Chung Yuan Christian University

About: Chung Yuan Christian University is a education organization based out in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Membrane & Fuzzy logic. The organization has 9819 authors who have published 11623 publications receiving 213139 citations. The organization is also known as: Tiong-gôan-tāi-ha̍k & CYCU.

Dehydration of water–alcohol mixtures by vapor permeation through PVA/clay nanocomposite membrane

Abstract: An organic/inorganic hybrid nanocomposite membrane, poly(vinyl alcohol)/clay (PVAC), was prepared. The morphology of PVAC nanocomposite membranes were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The crystallinity and surface roughness increases with an increasing clay content in the PVAC nanocomposite membrane. Compared with the pure poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membrane, the hybrid nanocomposite membrane (PVAC) shows an improvement in the thermal stability and the prevention of the water-soluble property. The oxygen permeability and the water-vapor permeation rate decreases with an increasing clay content (1–3 wt %) in the PVAC nanocomposite membranes. In addition, the effects of the clay content on the vapor-permeation performance of an aqueous ethanol solution through the PVAC nanocomposite membranes was also investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3632–3638, 2003

Preliminary investigations on a glucose biosensor based on the potentiometric principle

Abstract: In this study, an electron mediator and a simple immobilization process are adopted to fabricate a potentiometric glucose biosensor. The enzyme and the electron mediator are immobilized on the surface of tin oxide (SnO 2 )/indium tin oxide (ITO) glass using a covalent bond method to develop a disposable potentiometric glucose biosensor. The SnO 2 /ITO glass is a pH sensor fabricated by depositing SnO 2 thin films onto an ITO glass. The glucose oxidase (GOD) and the electron mediator (ferrocenecarboxylic acid, FcA) are co-immobilized on the SnO 2 /ITO glass using 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTS). This work investigates the coimmobilization of GOD and FcA as a useful approach for enlarging the dynamic range to a glucose concentration of 360 mg/dl, and for improving linearity and sensitivity of the fabricated glucose biosensor. The experimental results indicate that the optimal weight ratio of GOD to FcA is 1:1. The output signal is associated with the pH of the measurement environment and the optimal pH value is pH 7.5.

miR-524-5p suppresses the growth of oncogenic BRAF melanoma by targeting BRAF and ERK2

Abstract: // Szu-Mam Liu 1 , Jean Lu 2 , Hoong-Chien Lee 1,3,4 , Feng-Hsiang Chung 1,3 and Nianhan Ma 1 1 Institute of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan 2 Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan 3 Center for Dynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan 4 Department of Physics, Chung Yuan Christian University, Jhongli, Taiwan Correspondence: Nianhan Ma, email: // Keywords : miR-524-5p, melanoma, BRAF, ERK2, MAPK signaling, microRNA Received : June 20, 2014 Accepted : September 08, 2014 Published : September 08, 2014 Abstract It has been well documented that miRNAs can modulate the effectiveness of cancer-associated signaling pathways. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling plays an essential role in the progression of many cancers, including melanoma and colon cancers. However, no single miRNA is reported to directly target multiple components of the MAPK/ERK pathway. We performed a miRNA PCR array screening with various MAPK/ERK signaling activities. The miRNA array data revealed that the expression of miR-524-5p was decreased in cells with an active MAPK/ERK pathway and confirmed that the expression of miR-524-5p is inversely associated with the activity of the MAPK/ERK pathway. We demonstrated that miR-524-5p directly binds to the 3’-untranslated regions of both BRAFandERK2 and suppresses the expression of these proteins. Because BRAF and ERK2 are the main components of MAPK signaling, the overexpression of miR-524-5p effectively inhibits MAPK/ERK signaling, tumor proliferation, and melanoma cell migration. Moreover, tumors overexpressing miR-524-5p were significantly smaller than those of the negative control mice. Our findings provide new insight into the role of miR-524-5p as an important miRNA that negatively regulates the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, suggesting that miR-524-5p could be a potent therapeutic candidate for melanoma treatment.

Physical cues of cell culture materials lead the direction of differentiation lineages of pluripotent stem cells

Abstract: Both human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) from embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have the potential ability to differentiate into many different cell types originating from all three germ layers. This review discusses physical cues from natural and synthetic biomaterials that guide the differentiation of hESCs and hiPSCs into several different lineages. We place special focus on how the hPSC differentiation fate is affected by (a) the elasticity of biomaterials used for hPSC culture, (b) the topography of biomaterials used for hPSC culture, and (c) the mechanical forces associated with biomaterials (stretching and electrical stimulation via biomaterials) used for hPSC culture.