Publications by authors named "Rujun Zhang"

Non-contact and label-free acoustic manipulation of particles is crucial for various applications ranging from cell separation and tissue engineering to micromachining and nanofabrication. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) have been widely used for microscale particle manipulation; their leaky nature in liquid often generates significant bulk acoustic streaming that undermines stable trapping of nanoscale particles. To address this challenge, we introduce an acoustofluidic device comprising a zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film deposited on aluminum foil with one-sided water loading.

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Conventional acoustofluidic devices typically utilize high-frequency surface acoustic waves or Lamb waves to manipulate particles in fluid. However, since these waves possess a supersonic phase velocity (i.e.

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Eight novel nitrogen-containing triterpenoid saponins, designated mussaerosides A-H (1-8), and ten known ones (9-18) were obtained from the aerial parts of Mussaenda erosa Champ (Rubiaceae). Structural characterization was achieved through spectroscopic techniques and chemical derivatization. Immunosuppressive screening of the saponins and sapogenin heinsiagenin A revealed potent inhibition of T- and B-lymphocytes proliferation, and the latter exhibited potent inhibitory activities against the proliferation of ConA-induced T lymphocyte (CC = 22.

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Iron overload disease is characterized by the excessive accumulation of iron in the body. To better alleviate iron overload, there is an urgent need for safe and effective small molecule compounds. Rubiadin, the active ingredient derived from the Chinese herb Prismatomeris tetrandra, possesses notable anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective properties.

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Background: Sepsis can disrupt immune regulation and lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) frequently. Remazolam, a fast-acting hypnotic drug with superior qualities compared to other drugs, was investigated for its potential protective effects against sepsis-induced ARDS.

Methods: Forty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups, including the sepsis + saline group, sham operation + saline group, sham operation + remazolam group and the sepsis + remazolam group.

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Eleven triterpenoid saponins, including five new compounds, which were named densiflorasides A - E (1 - 5), were isolated from aerial parts of Mussaenda densiflora (Rubiaceae). Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses and chemical methods. All the isolated compounds and the aglycone heinsiagenin A were evaluated for their immunosuppressive and antiosteoclastogenic activities in vitro.

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Immune evasion by cancer cells poses a significant challenge for natural killer cell-based immunotherapy. Pyroptosis, a newly discovered form of programmed cell death, has shown great potential for enhancing the antitumor immunity of natural killer cells. Consequently, targeting pyroptosis has become an attractive strategy for boosting natural killer cell activity against cancer.

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Extensive phytochemical investigation of the seeds of Tripterygium wilfordii led to the identification of 54 polyesterified dihydro-β-agarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids, including 27 previously undescribed ones, named Tripwilin I-XXVII (1-27). Comprehensive spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, along with electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations were used for the structural elucidation of the new compounds. Biological assay revealed that 37 compounds among the isolates exhibited significant inhibition against osteoclastogenesis induced by receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) at 10 µM.

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Here, a physics-enhanced multi-frequency acoustic hologram deep neural network (PhysNet_MFAH) method is proposed for designing multi-frequency acoustic holograms, which is built by incorporating multiple physical models that represent the physical processes of acoustic waves propagation for a set of design frequencies into a deep neural network. It is demonstrated that one needs only to feed a set of frequency-specific target patterns into the network, the proposed PhysNet_MFAH method can automatically, accurately, and rapidly generate a high-quality multi-frequency acoustic hologram for holographic rendering of different target acoustic fields in the same or distinct regions of the target plane when driven at different frequencies. Remarkably, it is also demonstrated that the proposed PhysNet_MFAH method can achieve a higher quality of the reconstructed acoustic intensity fields than the existing optimization methods IASA and DS for designing multi-frequency acoustic holograms at a relatively fast-computational speed.

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Bacteria-triggered sepsis is characterized by systemic, uncontrolled inflammation in affected individuals. Controlling the excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and subsequent organ dysfunction in sepsis remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that Spi2a upregulation in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and myocardial impairment.

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Deep learning has achieved enormous success in various computer tasks. The excellent performance depends heavily on adequate training datasets, however, it is difficult to obtain abundant samples in practical applications. Few-shot learning is proposed to address the data limitation problem in the training process, which can perform rapid learning with few samples by utilizing prior knowledge.

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Background: The incidence of sepsis has been steadily increasing worldwide, and the heart is one of the target organs that can be easily damaged by sepsis. At present, antibiotics and organ function support are the main treatment options for sepsis and multiple system organ dysfunction, but are still under investigation.

Methods: Fifty rats were randomly divided into the sham operation group, sepsis group, sivelestat sodium low-dose (L) group (administered with sivelestat sodium 1.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to observe the efficacy and mechanism of Draba scabra in sepsis myocarditis.

Methods: The efficacy and pathways of action of Draba scabra on septic myocarditis were evaluated by making a rat model of sepsis with appendix perforation, using Draba scabra for pharmacological intervention, and measuring serum inflammatory factors, cardiac function indexes and parameters, and P38 protein expression in each group of rats, respectively.

Results: The inflammatory factor level, apoptotic index of cardiomyocytes, and P38-MARK protein were significantly higher, while the cardiac function index and hemodynamic index were significantly decreased in group B, while the opposite was true in group E.

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Fourteen previously undescribed diterpenoids, including an unusual diterpenoid (1) with a 9,10-seco-jatrophane skeleton, ten jatrophane-type diterpenoids (2-11), two lathyrane-type diterpenoids (12, 13), and an abietane-type diterpenoid (14), together with thirty-six known ones (15-50), were isolated from the whole plants of Euphorbia helioscopia L. The structures of the new isolates were characterized by spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and computational prediction of ECD and chemical shifts. Thirty-nine abundant diterpenoids were evaluated for their enhancement of NK cell-mediated killing of NSCLC cells.

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Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the most organ dysfunctions in sepsis. Although the development of therapeutic strategies such as protective mechanical ventilation technology has improved the mortality of ARDS patients, there is currently no effective drug for reducing the associated mortality. Our study aims to investigate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacoeconomics of sivelestat sodium in patients with septic ARDS, for providing the basis on clinical use of this drug.

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The discovery of new therapeutic agents for ischemic stroke remains an urgent need. Here, we identified a novel phenyl carboxylic acid derivative, -pentyl 4-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-4-oxobutanoate (PDPOB), with anti-ischemic activities. The anti-ischemic neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory capacities of PDPOB were investigated using neuronal cells suffering from oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) and microglial cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

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Acoustic holographic techniques are crucial in diverse applications, such as three-dimensional holographic display and particle manipulation. However, conventional methods for computer-generated acoustics holography rely heavily on iterative optimization algorithms, which are time-consuming and particularly hinder their capacity of generating a dynamic hologram in real time. Here, a deep learning approach based on U-Net is proposed to rapidly generate an acoustic hologram with optimal amplitude and phase maps.

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Many neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) share common learning and behavioural impairments, as well as features such as dysregulation of the oxytocin hormone. Here, we examined DNA methylation (DNAm) in the 1st intron of the oxytocin receptor gene, OXTR, in patients with autism spectrum (ASD), attention deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD) and obsessive compulsive (OCD) disorders. DNAm of OXTR was assessed for cohorts of ASD (blood), ADHD (saliva), OCD (saliva), which uncovered sex-specific DNAm differences compared to neurotypical, tissue-matched controls.

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28-O-caffeoyl betulin (B-CA) has been demonstrated to reduce the cerebral infarct volume caused by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) injury. B-CA is a novel derivative of naturally occurring caffeoyl triterpene with little information associated with its pharmacological target(s). To date no data is available regarding the effect of B-CA on brain metabolism.

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Objectives: We audited a selection of systematic reviews published in 2013 and reported on the proportion of reviews that researched for unpublished data, included unpublished data in analysis and assessed for publication bias.

Design: Audit of systematic reviews.

Data Sources: We searched PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 for the following journals: , , , and the .

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Objectives: We report information about an unpublished 1970s study ("8-way" Bendectin Study) that aimed to evaluate the relative therapeutic efficacy of doxylamine, pyridoxine, and dicyclomine in the management of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. We are publishing the trial's findings according to the restoring invisible and abandoned trials (RIAT) initiative because the trial was never published.

Design: Double blinded, multi-centred, randomized placebo-controlled study.

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Seventeen β-dihydroagarofuran-type sesquiterpenes were isolated from the seeds of Celastrus monospermus, and, among them, 15 (1-15) were identified as new natural products. Nine isolates were evaluated for their lifespan-extending effect using the standard model animal nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. As a result, all of the tested compounds prolonged the lifespan of C.

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Three new triterpenoids, celastrusins A-C (1-3), together with 3-O-caffeoyl-α-amyrin (4) were isolated from the root bark of Celastrus orbiculatus. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic analysis, X-ray crystallography using Cu Kα radiation, and the comparison of both observed and reported spectroscopic data. An in vitro bioassay revealed that the caffeoyl triterpenoid esters 1, 3, and 4 possess neuroprotective effects against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) induced SH-SY5Y cell damage.

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