Zhong Chen

Bio: Zhong Chen is an academic researcher from Nanyang Technological University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Chemistry. The author has an hindex of 80, co-authored 1000 publications receiving 28171 citations. Previous affiliations of Zhong Chen include Institute of High Performance Computing Singapore & National Institute of Education.

Non-Negative Matrix Factorization for Diabetes II Metabolic Profiling Analysis

Abstract: 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of biological fluids contain rich biochemical information about the metabolic status of an organism. However, spectra interpretation is still an open problem. In this paper, a novel approach, non- negative matrix factorization (NMF), was introduced to reveal the spectral difference between healthy and diabetes II human plasma. The biomarker candidates which respond for discriminating individuals of diabetes II from individuals of healthy were identified by the loading plot and the score plot of NMF. Detail comparisons were also made between NMF and another conventional method principal component analysis (PCA), and the results have shown that NMF would be feasible as a effective and accurate feature extraction tool for characterizing the metabolic status of people as belonging to the healthy group or to the diabetes II group, and provide more information for disease detection as well as the potential therapeutics.

Localized one-dimensional single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy without J coupling modulations.

Abstract: PURPOSE To acquire single voxel localized one-dimensional 1 H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) without J coupling modulations, free from amplitude and phase distortions. METHODS A pulse sequence, named PRESSIR, is developed for volume localized MRS without J modulations at arbitrary echo time (TE). The J coupling evolution is suppressed by the J-refocused module that uses a 90° pulse at the midpoint of a double spin echo. RESULTS The localization performance of the PRESSIR sequence was tested with a two-compartment phantom. The proposed sequence shows similar voxel localization accuracy as PRESS. Both PRESSIR and PRESS sequences were performed on MRS brain phantom and pig brain tissue. PRESS spectra suffer from amplitude and phase distortions due to J modulations, especially under moderate and long TEs, while PRESSIR spectra are almost free from distortions. CONCLUSION The PRESSIR sequence proposed herein enables the acquisition of single voxel in-phase MRS within a single scan. It allows an enhanced signal intensity of J coupling metabolites and reducing undesired broad resonances with short T2s while suppressing J modulations. Moreover, it provides an approach for direct measurement of nonoverlapping J coupling peaks and of transverse relaxation times T2s. Magn Reson Med 76:1661-1667, 2016. © 2015 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Theoretical Insights into the Solvent Polarity Effect on the Quality of Self-Assembled N-Octadecanethiol Monolayers on Cu (111) Surfaces

Abstract: The effect of solvent polarity on the quality of self-assembled n-octadecanethiol (C18SH) on Cu surfaces was systematically analyzed using first-principles calculations. The results indicate that the adsorption energy for C18SH on a Cu surface is −3.37 eV, which is higher than the adsorption energies of the solvent molecules. The higher adsorption energy of dissociated C18SH makes the monolayer self-assembly easier on a Cu (111) surface through competitive adsorption. Furthermore, the adsorption energy per unit area for C18SH decreases from −3.24 eV·A−2 to −3.37 eV·A−2 in solvents with an increased dielectric constant of 1 to 78.54. Detailed energy analysis reveals that the electrostatic energy gradually increases, while the kinetic energy decreases with increasing dielectric constant. The increased electrostatic energies are mainly attributable to the disappearance of electrostatic interactions on the sulfur end of C18SH. The decreased kinetic energy is mainly due to the generated push force in the polar solvent, which limits the mobility of C18SH. A molecular dynamics simulation also confirms that the -CH3 site has a great interaction with CH3(CH2)4CH3 molecules and a weak interaction with CH3CH2OH molecules. The different types of interactions help to explain why the surface coverage of C18SH on Cu in a high-polarity ethanol solution is significantly larger than that in a low-polarity n-hexane solution at the stabilized stage.

On the exciton-assisted radiative recombination via impurity trap levels in AlGaN deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes.

Abstract: For decades, problems of parasitic emissions have been ubiquitously encountered in nearly all deep ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs). In this work, 450 nm parasitic peaks in 275 nm AlGaN DUV-LEDs have been studied in details. Upon careful comparisons and analyses on the electroluminescence and photoluminescence spectra at various injection levels and different temperatures, we have discovered a mechanism of exciton-assisted radiative recombination, namely, the reinforcement on radiative recombination via other impurity-trap levels (ITLs) by excitons that are generated in the midst of the band gap. For DUV-LED samples under investigation herein, a system of radiative ITLs within the band gap cannot be neglected. It includes two types of impurities located at two different energy levels, 3.80 eV and 2.75 eV, respectively. The former, establishing a sub-band edge, which behaves like an energy entrance to this system, contains a series of hydrogen-like excitons at a temperature lower than 100 K, which behaves like an energy entrance to this system. On the one hand, these excitons absorb carriers from band-edge and reduce the band-edge recombination. On the other hand they transfer the energy to lower impurity levels, enhancing the radiative recombination and giving rise to the 450 nm parasitic peak.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics

Abstract: Three parallel algorithms for classical molecular dynamics are presented. The first assigns each processor a fixed subset of atoms; the second assigns each a fixed subset of inter-atomic forces to compute; the third assigns each a fixed spatial region. The algorithms are suitable for molecular dynamics models which can be difficult to parallelize efficiently—those with short-range forces where the neighbors of each atom change rapidly. They can be implemented on any distributed-memory parallel machine which allows for message-passing of data between independently executing processors. The algorithms are tested on a standard Lennard-Jones benchmark problem for system sizes ranging from 500 to 100,000,000 atoms on several parallel supercomputers--the nCUBE 2, Intel iPSC/860 and Paragon, and Cray T3D. Comparing the results to the fastest reported vectorized Cray Y-MP and C90 algorithm shows that the current generation of parallel machines is competitive with conventional vector supercomputers even for small problems. For large problems, the spatial algorithm achieves parallel efficiencies of 90% and a 1840-node Intel Paragon performs up to 165 faster than a single Cray C9O processor. Trade-offs between the three algorithms and guidelines for adapting them to more complex molecular dynamics simulations are also discussed.

Principles of Neural Science

Abstract: I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g-C3N4)-Based Photocatalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis and Environmental Remediation: Are We a Step Closer To Achieving Sustainability?

Abstract: As a fascinating conjugated polymer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has become a new research hotspot and drawn broad interdisciplinary attention as a metal-free and visible-light-responsive photocatalyst in the arena of solar energy conversion and environmental remediation. This is due to its appealing electronic band structure, high physicochemical stability, and “earth-abundant” nature. This critical review summarizes a panorama of the latest progress related to the design and construction of pristine g-C3N4 and g-C3N4-based nanocomposites, including (1) nanoarchitecture design of bare g-C3N4, such as hard and soft templating approaches, supramolecular preorganization assembly, exfoliation, and template-free synthesis routes, (2) functionalization of g-C3N4 at an atomic level (elemental doping) and molecular level (copolymerization), and (3) modification of g-C3N4 with well-matched energy levels of another semiconductor or a metal as a cocatalyst to form heterojunction nanostructures. The constructi...