Ginsenoside Rb1 and compound K improve insulin signaling and inhibit ER stress-associated NLRP3 inflammasome activation in adipose tissue

Chen, Weijie,Wang, Junlian,Luo, Yong,Wang, Tao,Li, Xiaochun,Li, Aiyun,Li, Jia,Liu, Kang,Liu, Baolin The Korean Society of Ginseng 2016 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.40 No.4

Background: This study was designed to investigate whether ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1) and compound K (CK) ameliorated insulin resistance by suppressing endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced inflammation in adipose tissue. Methods: To induce ER stress, epididymal adipose tissue from mice or differentiated 3T3 adipocytes were exposed to high glucose. The effects of Rb1 and CK on reactive oxygen species production, ER stress, TXNIP/NLRP3 inflammasome activation, inflammation, insulin signaling activation, and glucose uptake were detected by western blot, emzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, or fluorometry. Results: Rb1 and CK suppressed ER stress by dephosphorylation of $IRE1{\alpha}$ and PERK, thereby reducing TXNIP-associated NLRP3 inflammasome activation in adipose tissue. As a result, Rb1 and CK inhibited IL-$1{\beta}$ maturation and downstream inflammatory factor IL-6 secretion. Inflammatory molecules induced insulin resistance by upregulating phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 at serine residues and impairing insulin PI3K/Akt signaling, leading to decreased glucose uptake by adipocytes. Rb1 and CK reversed these changes by inhibiting ER stress-induced inflammation and ameliorating insulin resistance, thereby improving the insulin IRS-1/PI3K/Akt-signaling pathway in adipose tissue. Conclusion: Rb1 and CK inhibited inflammation and improved insulin signaling in adipose tissue by suppressing ER stress-associated NLRP3 inflammation activation. These findings offered novel insight into the mechanism by which Rb1 and CK ameliorate insulin resistance in adipose tissue.

A comprehensive quality analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials of Asian ginseng and American ginseng based on the CONSORT guideline

Weijie Chen,Xiuzhu Li,Zhejie Chen,Wei Hao,Peifen Yao,Meng Li,Kunmeng Liu,Hao Hu,Shengpeng Wang,Yitao Wang 고려인삼학회 2022 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.46 No.1

Ginseng is an international herb that has been used for thousands of years. Two species most commonly applied and investigated in the ginseng family are Asian ginseng and American ginseng. The number of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) has conspicuously increased, driven by the rapid development of ginseng. However, the reporting of RCT items of ginseng is deficient because of different trial designs and reporting formats, which is a challenge for researchers who are looking for the data with high quality and reliability. Thus, this study focused on providing an extensive analysis of these two species and examined the quality of the RCTs, based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline. Ninety-one RCTs conducted from 1980 to 2019 that were related to Asian ginseng and American ginseng used singly met our inclusion criteria. We found that the reporting quality of the two species has improved during the past 40 years. Publication date and sample size were significantly associated with the reporting quality. Rigorous RCTs designed for the species of ginseng are warranted, which can shed light on product research and development of ginseng in the future.

Localized evaluation of actuator tracking for real-time hybrid simulation using frequency-domain indices

Weijie Xu,Tong Guo,Cheng Chen 국제구조공학회 2017 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.62 No.5

Accurate actuator tracking plays an important role in real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) to ensure accurate and reliable experimental results. Frequency-domain evaluation index (FEI) interprets actuator tracking into amplitude and phase errors thus providing a promising tool for quantitative assessment of real-time hybrid simulation results. Previous applications of FEI successfully evaluated actuator tracking over the entire duration of the tests. In this study, FEI with moving window technique is explored to provide post-experiment localized actuator tracking assessment. Both moving window with and without overlap are investigated through computational simulations. The challenge is discussed for Fourier Transform to satisfy both time domain and frequency resolution for selected length of moving window. The required data window length for accuracy is shown to depend on the natural frequency and structural nonlinearity as well as the ground motion input for both moving windows with and without overlap. Moving window without overlap shows better computational efficiency and has potential for future online evaluation. Moving window with overlap however requires much more computational efforts and is more suitable for post-experiment evaluation. Existing RTHS data from Network Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) is utilized to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. It is demonstrated that with proper window size, FEI with moving window techniques enable accurate localized evaluation of actuator tracking for real-time hybrid simulation.

Synthesis and adsorption properties of chabazite-like zeolites

Weijie Liu,Lei Qian,Zong Chen,Liying Liu 대한환경공학회 2019 대한환경공학회 학술발표논문집 Vol.2019 No.-

One-pot synthesis of lactic acid from cellulose over a sulfonated Sn-KIT6 catalyst

Weijie Cai,Qing Chen,Hao Xuan,Congming Li,Hao Yu,Li Cui,Zhihui Yu,Shaoyin Zhang,Fengzuo Qu 한국화학공학회 2019 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.36 No.4

A sulfonated Sn-doped KIT-6 catalyst (Sn-KIT-6-Pr-SO3H) was successfully prepared via the hydrothermal self-assembly method, and its performance towards to value-added lactic acid production from one-pot conversion of renewable cellulose was investigated. Indeed, the physicochemical features of the as-prepared catalysts were deeply characterized by various techniques, including XRD, BET, SEM, FT-IR, XPS, UV-vis and TGA-DSC. The results confirmed its high BET surface area with an ultrahigh cross-linked framework and promising acid strength (co-existence of Brønsted and Lewis acidity). Additionally, the impact of different reaction factors, such as the type of catalysts, temperature, time, recyclability on cellulose conversion and the yield of targeted lactic acid, were determined. Meanwhile, the developed catalyst depicted the promising activity and stability under the optimal reaction conditions. It could be recycled at least four times without any obvious deactivation. This provides insight into developing efficient catalytic systems to convert renewable biomass into value-added chemicals.

Design and internal cavitation characteristics of straight-through electric fully enclosed ultra-clean globe valve

Chang Chen,Rui Zhou,Weijie Sun 대한기계학회 2023 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.37 No.7

The straight-through electric fully closed ultra-clean cut-off valve is a completely closed shut-off valve inside and outside. It relies on magnetic force as the driving force of the valve to control the opening and closing of the valve. In this paper, a new type of cut-off valve structure was designed, a mathematical model was established and its hydrodynamic characteristics were simulated by the computational fluid dynamics method. According to different inlet velocities and different valve openings, the internal cavitation phenomenon of the valve was analyzed. The external magnetic drive control device was designed in combination with the completely closed structure inside and outside the valve, and the magnetic field interference and force of the external permanent magnet and the embedded permanent magnet were studied. This study is helpful for the optimization design and practical engineering application of the ultra-clean valve.

Highly elastic aerogel derived from spent coffee grounds as oil removal adsorbent

Yongli Chen,Weijie Cai,Meng Zhang,Meiying Xie,Fengzhi Tan,Fan Yang 한국화학공학회 2022 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.39 No.6

In the face of increasing environmental pollution, aerogels have emerged as valuable materials for potentialoil/water separation. However, many of the currently developed aerogels have unsatisfactory compressibility, high costand a single hydrophobic modification method, which limits larger-scale application. In this work, a type of aerogelwith compressible, inexpensive, and fully biodegradable features was designed via a novel zirconium chloride modificationstrategy. Typically, a series of aerogels (HCSW-1, HCSW-2, and HCSW-3) were readily prepared from a mixture ofspent coffee grounds, waste paper and sodium alginate. The prepared aerogels exhibited good elasticity, low density(0.024 g cm3), high porosity (98.3%), efficient oil/water separation and good oil uptake (23-44 times of its weight). Inaddition, the as-prepared aerogels can be easily recycled several times, thus meeting the demand of actual oil/waterseparation. Such prominent results provide a new perspective for the development of efficient hydrophobic aerogels inthe treatment of offshore oil spills and industrial wastewater.

Flexible AlGaInN/GaN Heterostructures for High-Hole-Mobility Transistors

Wang, Weijie,Shervin, Shahab,Oh, Seung Kyu,Chen, Jie,Huai, Yang,Pouladi, Sara,Kim, Hyunsoo,Lee, Sung-Nam,Ryou, Jae-Hyun IEEE 2017 IEEE electron device letters Vol.38 No.8

<P>We study the potential and feasibility of high hole mobility transistors (HHMTs) based on flexible AlGaInN/GaN heterostructures using numerical simulation. We develop a map for the sheet density of two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) at different mole fractions of AlN, GaN, and InN of AlGaInN with mechanical bending conditions. External compressive strain via bending can induce relatively high density of 2DHG (e.g.,> 8x10(12)cm(-2)) while keeping InN fraction low (<0.3) so that 2DHG channel can be formed in a GaN layer. We show the electronic energy band diagrams, family curves of I - V characteristics, and transfer characteristicsof an In-0.25 Al0.75N/GaN heterostructure in different bending conditions. By bending up, 2DHG is formed to perform the device function as HHMTs. Without bending, 2-D electron gas is induced and the devices function as high electron mobility transistors. This unique property can be used in complementary integrated circuits for high-power and high-temperature applications.</P>

Ripplocations, kink bands and delamination cracks in carbon cathode materials

Wang Wei,Chen Weijie,Liu Haitao,Zhang Hongtao 한국탄소학회 2019 Carbon Letters Vol.29 No.4

A new deformation micromechanism operating in the carbon cathode for aluminum electrolysis termed a ripplocation has been proposed in this paper. The creep deformation of semi-graphitic cathode was measured using a modified Rapoport equipment at 965 °C with cryolite ratio = 4.0. The characteristic of the defect was obtained by analyzing TEM photograph of the carbon cathode with different testing times. The results indicated that basal dislocations, bulk ripplocations, kink bands and delamination cracks appeared in succession in the first two stages of the creep deformation. Ripplocations in the carbon cathode make a layer of carbon atoms to glide relative to each other without damaging the in-plane bonds. Ripplocations could also attract each other and result in kink boundaries. The creep strain of the carbon cathode could be accommodated by kink band and delamination cracks during aluminum electrolysis. A more comprehensive understanding of their micromechanics behaviors is very important and could deeply influence our current knowledge of the deformation mechanism of the carbon cathode for aluminum electrolysis.

Ripplocations, kink bands and delamination cracks in carbon cathode materials

Wei Wang,Weijie Chen,Haitao Liu,Hongtao Zhang 한국탄소학회 2019 Carbon Letters Vol.29 No.4

A new deformation micromechanism operating in the carbon cathode for aluminum electrolysis termed a ripplocation has been proposed in this paper. The creep deformation of semi-graphitic cathode was measured using a modified Rapoport equipment at 965 °C with cryolite ratio = 4.0. The characteristic of the defect was obtained by analyzing TEM photograph of the carbon cathode with different testing times. The results indicated that basal dislocations, bulk ripplocations, kink bands and delamination cracks appeared in succession in the first two stages of the creep deformation. Ripplocations in the carbon cathode make a layer of carbon atoms to glide relative to each other without damaging the in-plane bonds. Ripplocations could also attract each other and result in kink boundaries. The creep strain of the carbon cathode could be accommodated by kink band and delamination cracks during aluminum electrolysis. A more comprehensive understanding of their micromechanics behaviors is very important and could deeply influence our current knowledge of the deformation mechanism of the carbon cathode for aluminum electrolysis.