Structure of MnOx/TiO2 Catalysts and Their Catalytic Performance in the Gas-Phase Oxidation of o-Dichlorobenzene

Wenrui Zhang,Aidong Tang,Dabin Ren,Hui Xiang,Zhiqiang Yu,Guoying Sheng,Jiamo Fu 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2015 NANO Vol.10 No.5

The influence of structure of MnOx/TiO2 catalysts and their catalytic oxidation of o-dichlorobenzene were examined in this study. MnOx/TiO2 catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) and FTIR for NH3 adsorption techniques. Experimental results indicated that the MnOx/TiO2 catalyst prepared from manganese nitrate possessed the highest catalytic activity with a gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 14,500 h-1. This activity may be due to a large amount of surface Mn2O3 species, the strong Brönsted and Lewis acidity and the combined TiO2 phases. Additionally, a possible reaction model from o-dichlorobenzene oxidation over MnOx/TiO2 catalyst was suggested based on the analysis.

One-pot synthesis of electron-acceptor composite enables efficient fullerene-free ternary organic solar cells

Zhang, Jianyun,Liu, Wenrui,Chen, Shanshan,Xu, Shengjie,Yang, Changduk,Zhu, Xiaozhang The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Vol.6 No.45

<P>An effective strategy of “synthesizing an electron-acceptor composite (ZITI-m) by one-pot reaction” to improve photovoltaic performance is proposed. The ZITI-m composite is synthesized by one-pot Knoevenagel reaction of ZIT-2CHO and a mixture of INCN-2F and I-a, from which asymmetrical ZITI-3F and symmetrical ZITI-4F are separated. J71:ZITI-m-based OSC shows the highest PCE of 13.65 ± 0.13% with remarkable PCE of 13.85% than those based on J71:ZITI-3F (12.97 ± 0.15%) and J71:ZITI-4F (13.02 ± 0.13%) blends. The effect of acceptor ratio in the composite on OPV performance indicates that all PCEs of composite system are higher than those of the materials based on pure acceptors with a broad composition tolerance, which is ascribed to the synergistic effect of the ternary blend system.</P>

HEALER: homomorphic computation of ExAct Logistic rEgRession for secure rare disease variants analysis in GWAS

Wang, Shuang,Zhang, Yuchen,Dai, Wenrui,Lauter, Kristin,Kim, Miran,Tang, Yuzhe,Xiong, Hongkai,Jiang, Xiaoqian Oxford University Press 2016 Bioinformatics Vol.32 No.2

<P>Motivation: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been widely used in discovering the association between genotypes and phenotypes. Human genome data contain valuable but highly sensitive information. Unprotected disclosure of such information might put individual's privacy at risk. It is important to protect human genome data. Exact logistic regression is a bias-reduction method based on a penalized likelihood to discover rare variants that are associated with disease susceptibility. We propose the HEALER framework to facilitate secure rare variants analysis with a small sample size. Results: We target at the algorithm design aiming at reducing the computational and storage costs to learn a homomorphic exact logistic regression model (i.e. evaluate P-values of coefficients), where the circuit depth is proportional to the logarithmic scale of data size. We evaluate the algorithm performance using rare Kawasaki Disease datasets.</P>

Effects of sheep slaughter age on myogenic characteristics in skeletal muscle satellite cells

Han Yunfei,Guo Wenrui,Su Rina,Zhang Yanni,Yang Le,Borjigin Gerelt,Duan Yan 아세아·태평양축산학회 2022 Animal Bioscience Vol.35 No.4

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sheep slaughter age on myogenic characteristics in skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs).Methods: Primary SMSCs were isolated from hind leg biceps femoris muscles of Wurank lambs (slaughtered at three months, Mth-3) and adults (slaughtered at fifteen months, Mth-15). SMSCs were selected by morphological observation and fluorescence staining. Myogenic regulatory factors (MRF) and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expressions of SMSCs were analyzed on days 1, 3, 4, and 5.Results: The expressions of myogenic factor 5 (Myf5), myogenic differentiation (MyoD), Myf6, and myogenin (MyoG) in Mth-15 were significantly higher in Mth-15 than in Mth-3 on days 1, 3, and 4 (p<0.05). However, MyoG expression in Mth-15 was significantly lower than in Mth-3 on day 5 (p<0.05). The expressions of MyHC I, MyHC IIa, and MyHC IIx in Mth-15 were significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 1 and 3 (p<0.05), and MyHC IIb were significantly lower than in Mth-3 on days 3 and 4 (p<0.05). In contrast, the expression of MyHC IIx in Mth-15 was significantly lower and MyHC IIb was significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 5 (p<0.05).Conclusion: The slaughter age altered the expression of MRFs and MyHCs in SMSCs while differentiation, which caused the variation of myogenic characteristics, and thus may affect the meat quality of Wurank sheep. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sheep slaughter age on myogenic characteristics in skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs). Methods: Primary SMSCs were isolated from hind leg biceps femoris muscles of Wurank lambs (slaughtered at three months, Mth-3) and adults (slaughtered at fifteen months, Mth-15). SMSCs were selected by morphological observation and fluorescence staining. Myogenic regulatory factors (MRF) and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expressions of SMSCs were analyzed on days 1, 3, 4, and 5. Results: The expressions of myogenic factor 5 (Myf5), myogenic differentiation (MyoD), Myf6, and myogenin (MyoG) in Mth-15 were significantly higher in Mth-15 than in Mth-3 on days 1, 3, and 4 (p<0.05). However, MyoG expression in Mth-15 was significantly lower than in Mth-3 on day 5 (p<0.05). The expressions of MyHC I, MyHC IIa, and MyHC IIx in Mth-15 were significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 1 and 3 (p<0.05), and MyHC IIb were significantly lower than in Mth-3 on days 3 and 4 (p<0.05). In contrast, the expression of MyHC IIx in Mth-15 was significantly lower and MyHC IIb was significantly higher than in Mth-3 on days 5 (p<0.05). Conclusion: The slaughter age altered the expression of MRFs and MyHCs in SMSCs while differentiation, which caused the variation of myogenic characteristics, and thus may affect the meat quality of Wurank sheep.

Flexural Behavior and Prediction Model of Basalt Fiber/Polypropylene Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

Qiang Fu,Zhaorui Zhang,Wenrui Xu,Xu Zhao,Lu Zhang,Yan Wang,Ditao Niu 한국콘크리트학회 2022 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.16 No.5

The flexural behavior of basalt fiber (BF)/polypropylene fiber (PF)-reinforced concrete (BPRC) was investigated. When the content of BF and PF is 0.1%, the addition of fibers increases the compressive strength of concrete. A BF content of 0.1% has the most obvious effect on improving the compressive strength, but a hybrid fiber content of 0.2% exhibits a negative effect on the compressive strength. The addition of BF and PF can increase the flexural strength and the expansion tortuosity of the fracture cracks, thus enhancing the ductility of concrete. The hybrid fibers with content of 0.1% are most beneficial to increase the flexural strength. However, the ductility of concrete and the tortuosity of fracture crack decrease with the matrix strength, and the improvement proportion of fibers on the flexural strength also decreases. When the BF and PF are mixed, compared to the case of single fiber added, there is no significant change in the damage of BF, whereas the damage of PF is more severe. The flexural toughness index FTδ effectively characterizes the change in the flexural toughness of BPRC. The hybrid fiber contents of 0.1% and 0.2% exhibit the most significant improving effect on FT-l/600 and FT-l/150, respectively. Considering the influence of fibers on the compressive strength, flexural strength and flexural toughness of concrete, a hybrid content of 0.1% is the optimal choice of fiber content. A prediction model for flexural strength of BPRC is proposed based on the composite material theory.

PROM2 promotes gemcitabine chemoresistance via activating the Akt signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer

Wenbin Li,Yue Zhu,Kelin Zhang,Xianhuan Yu,Haoming Lin,Wenrui Wu,Yaorong Peng,Jian Sun 생화학분자생물학회 2020 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.52 No.-

In recent years, the deoxycytidine analogue gemcitabine (2′,2′,-difluorodeoxycytidine) has become the first-line chemotherapeutic agent for patients with pancreatic cancer. However, due to the intrinsic resistance of pancreatic cancer cells, gemcitabine-based chemotherapy yields limited disease control, with >85% disease progression at 6 months from diagnosis. Therefore, elucidating the mechanisms of chemoresistance is a critical step in improving cancer therapy, especially for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. We show PROM2, a transmembrane glycoprotein, is ubiquitously upregulated in pancreatic cancer cell. We also found higher PROM2 expression is associated with shortened overall and disease-free survival times in patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We provide evidence that PROM2 promotes chemoresistance to gemcitabine both in vivo and in vitro. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that PROM2 could directly interacted with Akt and activates the Akt signaling pathway, which thus inhibiting gemcitabineinduced apoptosis. As further evidence, we show PROM2 expression and Akt phosphorylation both promote gemcitabine chemoresistance, and cause poorer survival in clinical samples with pancreatic cancer. Combining gemcitabine with the Akt inhibitor MK-2206 facilitated significant tumor shrinkage and dramatically elevated the survival status in mice xenografted with pancreatic cancer cells. Our findings not only establish PROM2 as a novel positive regulator of the Akt signaling pathway and a candidate prognostic indicator of gemcitabine response, but also provide a neo-therapeutic approach for patients resistant to gemcitabine treatment.

IMPROVED HYBRID A-STAR ALGORITHM FOR PATH PLANNING IN AUTONOMOUS PARKING SYSTEM BASED ON MULTI-STAGE DYNAMIC OPTIMIZATION

Meng Tianchuang,Yang Tianhong,Huang Jin,Jin Wenrui,Zhang Wei,Jia Yifan,Wan Keqian,Xiao Gang,Yang Diange,Zhong Zhihua 한국자동차공학회 2023 International journal of automotive technology Vol.24 No.2

The recent proliferation of intelligent technologies has promoted autonomous driving. The autonomous parking system has become a popular feature in autonomous driving. Hybrid A-star algorithm is a commonly used path planning algorithm for its simplicity to deploy and the good characteristics of the generated paths in the practical engineering. To further enhance the path safety and efficiency of path planning in the autonomous parking system, this paper proposes an improved hybrid A-star algorithm through the safety-enhanced design and the efficiency-enhanced design. The safety-enhanced design integrates the Voronoi field potential into the path searching stage to take more account of path safety. The efficiency-enhanced design proposes a multi-stage dynamic optimization strategy which divides the path planning into multiple stages and performs dynamic optimization in each stage. Through simulation experiments, it is verified that the proposed improved algorithm not only generates a much safer path which stays farther from the obstacles but also significantly improves the searching efficiency in terms of time and space, merely at a finite cost of pre-processing work which can also be repeatedly utilized. We hope this paper will promote relative research on path planning in autonomous parking and serve as a reference for the practical engineering.

Strongly enhanced dielectric and energy storage properties in lead-free perovskite titanate thin films by alloying

Cho, Seungho,Yun, Chao,Kim, Yoon Seo,Wang, Han,Jian, Jie,Zhang, Wenrui,Huang, Jijie,Wang, Xuejing,Wang, Haiyan,MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L. Elsevier 2018 Nano energy Vol.45 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Lead-free perovskite oxide thin films prepared by alloying of titanates and materials with lower melting points are shown to have enhanced ferroelectric and dielectric properties. BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB> (or SrTiO<SUB>3</SUB>) with 25% addition of BiFeO<SUB>3</SUB> has much improved crystalline perfection because of the lower melting point of the BiFeO<SUB>3</SUB> giving enhanced growth kinetics. The maximum dielectric peak temperature of BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB> is increased by ~ 200°C and leakage currents are reduced by up to a factor of ~ 100. The loss tangent reduces up to 300°C, with a factor of > 14 reduction at room temperature. The dielectric breakdown strength is higher by a factor of ~ 3 (> 2200kVcm<SUP>−1</SUP>) and from room temperature up to 500°C the dielectric constant is > 1000. Also, a low variation of dielectric constant of ~ 9% from room temperature to 330°C is obtained, compared to ~ 110% for BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB>. The maximum polarization (<I>P</I> <SUB>max</SUB>) is double that of BaTiO<SUB>3</SUB>, at 125.3μCcm<SUP>−2</SUP>. The film has high energy storage densities of > 52Jcm<SUP>−3</SUP> at 2050kVcm<SUP>−1</SUP>, matching Pb-based ferroelectric films. The strongly improved performance is important for applications in energy storage and in high temperature (up to 300°C) capacitors as well as wider application in other electronic and energy technologies.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> High crystallinity is achieved by mixing titanate with a lower melting point material. </LI> <LI> The film with enhanced crystallinity has strongly enhanced dielectric properties. </LI> <LI> The film has high energy storage densities of > 52Jcm<SUP>−3</SUP>, matching Pb-based films. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Novel Electroforming-Free Nanoscaffold Memristor with Very High Uniformity, Tunability, and Density

Lee, Shinbuhm,Sangle, Abhijeet,Lu, Ping,Chen, Aiping,Zhang, Wenrui,Lee, Jae Sung,Wang, Haiyan,Jia, Quanxi,MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L BlackWell Publishing Ltd 2014 Advanced Materials Vol.26 No.36

Diagnostic Value of Volume-Based Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT Parameters for Characterizing Thyroid Incidentaloma

Huazheng Shi,Zuguo Yuan,Zheng Yuan,Chunshan Yang,Jian Zhang,Yi Shou,Wenrui Zhang,Zhaofu Ping,Xin Gao,Shiyuan Liu 대한영상의학회 2018 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.19 No.2

Objective: To assess clinical value of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for differentiation of malignant from benign focal thyroid incidentaloma. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 99 patients with focal thyroid incidentaloma of 5216 non-thyroid cancer patients that had undergone PET/CT. PET/CT semi-quantitative parameters, volume-based functional parameters, metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of thyroid incidentaloma were assessed. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted and areas under the curve (AUC) were compared by Hanley and McNeil test to evaluate usefulness of maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), MTV and TLG, as markers for differentiating malignant from benign thyroid incidentalomas. Results: Of 99 thyroid incidentalomas, 64 (64.6%) were malignant and 35 (35.4%) were benign. Malignant thyroid incidentalomas were larger (1.8 cm vs. 1.3 cm, p = 0.006), and had higher SUVmax (11.3 vs. 4.8, p < 0.001), MTV (all p < 0.001) and TLG (all p < 0.001) than benign. TLG 4.0 had the highest performance for differentiation of malignant from benign thyroid incidentaloma in all semi-quantitative parameters with AUC 0.895 by ROC curve analysis. AUC (TLG 4.0) was significantly larger than AUC (SUVmean), AUC (MTV 2.5), AUC (MTV 3.0), AUC (MTV 3.5), AUC (TLG 2.5), and AUC (TLG 3.0), respectively (all, p < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between AUC (TLG 4.0) and AUC (SUVmax) (p > 0.05). A threshold TLG 4.0 of 2.475 had 81.3% sensitivity and 94.3% specificity for identifying malignant thyroid incidentalomas. Conclusion: Volume-based PET/CT parameters could potentially have clinical value in differential diagnosis of thyroid incidentaloma along with SUVmax.