A miR-155–Peli1–c-Rel pathway controls the generation and function of T follicular helper cells

Liu, Wen-Hsien,Kang, Seung Goo,Huang, Zhe,Wu, Cheng-Jang,Jin, Hyun Yong,Maine, Christian J.,Liu, Yi,Shepherd, Jovan,Sabouri-Ghomi, Mohsen,Gonzalez-Martin, Alicia,Xu, Shunbin,Hoffmann, Alexander,Zheng, The Rockefeller University Press 2016 The Journal of experimental medicine Vol.213 No.9

<P>MicroRNA (miRNA) deficiency impairs the generation of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, but the contribution of individual miRNAs to this phenotype remains poorly understood. In this study, we performed deep sequencing analysis of miRNAs expressed in Tfh cells and identified a five-miRNA signature. Analyses of mutant mice deficient of these miRNAs revealed that miR-22 and miR-183/96/182 are dispensable, but miR-155 is essential for the generation and function of Tfh cells. miR-155 deficiency led to decreased proliferation specifically at the late stage of Tfh cell differentiation and reduced CD40 ligand (CD40L) expression on antigen-specific CD4<SUP>+</SUP> T cells. Mechanistically, miR-155 repressed the expression of Peli1, a ubiquitin ligase that promotes the degradation of the NF-κB family transcription factor c-Rel, which controls cellular proliferation and CD40L expression. Therefore, our study identifies a novel miR-155–Peli1–c-Rel pathway that specifically regulates Tfh cell generation and function.</P>

Microstructure and Texture Evolution of AA 6063 During an Ex-ECAE Process

Cheng-Hsien Liu,Hsin-Chih Lin,Yu-Tung Hsu 대한금속·재료학회 2016 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.22 No.3

Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) has been studied at the lab scale for many years. However, few successful industrial applications of the ECAE process have been reported. In the present work, a process referred to as Ex-ECAE that was composed of two processes of the direct extrusion and the ECAE via route C, was developed. The Ex-ECAE process was developed to refine the microstructure of the extrudate, particular the coarse grain layer (CGL) on the surface of the extrudate. The Ex-ECAE die with a die angle of 120° contained three segments and was used in the conventional direct extrusion press. The high friction and the continuous routes of the ECAE resulted in asymmetric dead metal zones (DMZs) to be formed at the corners of the die channel. It revealed that the visible grains in the CGL were refined and became invisible due to the intense shear deformation as the CGL flowed along the boundaries of the asymmetric DMZs. The textures of the Ex-ECAE at the various segments were studied by EBSD. This study demonstrated that the ECAE process could be scaled up using the extrusion press. Success or lack of success depended on the capacity of the extrusion press and the die design.

Investigation of Visual Perception Under Zen-Meditation Based On Alpha-Dependent F-VEPs

Liao, Hsien-Cheng,Liu, Chuan-Yi,Lo, Pei-Chen The Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engin 2006 의공학회지 Vol.27 No.6

Variation of brain dynamics under Zen meditation has been one of our major research interests for years. One issue encountered is the inaccessibility to the actual meditation level or stage as a reference. In this paper, we propose an alternative strategy for investigating the human brain in response to external flash stimuli during Zen meditation course. To secure a consistent condition of the brain dynamics when applying stimulation, we designed a recording of flash visual evoked potentials (F-VEPs) based on a constant background EEG (electroencephalograph) frontal $\alpha-rhythm$ dominating activities that increase significantly during Zen meditation. Thus the flash-light stimulus was to be applied upon emergence of the frontal $\alpha-rhythm$. The alpha-dependent F-VEPs were then employed to inspect the effect of Zen meditation on brain dynamics. Based on the experimental protocol proposed, considerable differences between experimental and control groups were obtained. Our results showed that amplitudes of P1-N2 and N2-P2 on Cz and Fz increased significantly during meditation, contrary to the F-VEPs of control group at rest. We thus suggest that Zen meditation results in acute response on primary visual cortex and the associated parts.

A Mobile P2P Semantic Information Retrieval System with Effective Updates

( Chuan-ming Liu ),( Cheng-hsien Chen ),( Yen-lin Chen ),( Jeng-haur Wang ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2015 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.9 No.5

As the technologies advance, mobile peer-to-peer (MP2P) networks or systems become one of the major ways to share resources and information. On such a system, the information retrieval (IR), including the development of scalable infrastructures for indexing, becomes more complicated due to a huge increase on the amount of information and rapid information change. To keep the systems on MP2P networks more reliable and consistent, the index structures need to be updated frequently. For a semantic IR system, the index structure is even more complicated than a classic IR system and generally has higher update cost. The most well-known indexing technique used in semantic IR systems is Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), of which the index structure is generated by singular value decomposition (SVD). Although LSI performs well, updating the index structure is not easy and time consuming. In an MP2P environment, which is fully distributed and dynamic, the update becomes more challenging. In this work, we consider how to update the sematic index generated by LSI and keep the index consistent in the whole MP2P network. The proposed Concept Space Update (CSU) protocol, based on distributed 2-Phase locking strategy, can effectively achieve the objectives in terms of two measurements: coverage speed and update cost. Using the proposed effective synchronization mechanism with the efficient updates on the SVD, re-computing the whole index on the P2P overlay can be avoided and the consistency can be achieved. Simulated experiments are also performed to validate our analysis on the proposed CSU protocol. The experimental results indicate that CSU is effective on updating the concept space with LSI/SVD index structure in MP2P semantic IR systems.

Association of the PPAR-γ Gene with Altered Glucose Levels and Psychosis Profile in Schizophrenia Patients Exposed to Antipsychotics

Yun-Ru Liu,El-Wui Loh,Tsung-Ming Hu,Tsuo-Hung Lan,Hsien-Jane Chiu,Yung-Han Chang,Shuo-Fei Chen,Yen-Hsin Yu,Cheng-Chung Chen 대한신경정신의학회 2014 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.11 No.2

Objective Metabolic abnormalities, e.g., diabetes, are common among schizophrenia patients. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) regulates glucose/lipid metabolisms, and schizophrenia like syndrome may be induced by actions involving retinoid X receptor-α/PPAR-γ heterodimers. We examined a possible role of the PPAR-γ gene in metabolic traits and psychosis profile in schizophrenia patients exposed to antipsychotics. Methods Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the PPAR-γ gene and a serial of metabolic traits were determined in 394 schizophrenia patients, among which 372 were rated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results SNP-10, -12, -18, -19, -20 and -26 were associated with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) whereas SNP-18, -19, -20 and -26 were associated with fasting plasma glucose (FPG). While SNP-23 was associated with triglycerides, no associations were identified between the other SNPs and lipids. Further haplotype analysis demonstrated an association between the PPAR-γ gene and psychosis profile. Conclusion Our study suggests a role of the PPAR-γ gene in altered glucose levels and psychosis profile in schizophrenia patients exposed to antipsychotics. Although the Pro12Ala at exon B has been concerned an essential variant in the development of obesity, the lack of association of the variant with metabolic traits in this study should not be treated as impossibility or a proof of error because other factors, e.g., genes regulated by PPAR-γ, may have complicated the development of metabolic abnormalities. Whether the PPAR-γ gene modifies the risk of metabolic abnormalities or psychosis, or causes metabolic abnormalities that lead to psychosis, remains to be examined.