A New ent-Kaurane type Diterpenoid Glycoside from Inula japonica Thunb

Jiang Jiang Qin,Jia Xian Zhu,Wei Dong Zhang1,2,Yan Zhu,Jian Jun Fu,Xiao Hua Liu,Hui Zi Jin 대한약학회 2009 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.32 No.10

A new ent-kaurane type diterpenoid glycoside, 17-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-16α-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (1), together with 17-hydroxy-16α-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (2), 16α,17-dihydroxyl-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (3), and 16α-hydroxy-17-acetoxy-ent- kauran-19-oic acid (4) were isolated from the aerial parts of Inula japonica Thunb. The structure of 1 was determined mainly by use of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques including HSQC, 1H-1H COSY, HMBC, and NOESY. In addition, 4 exhibited significant inhibitory activity on NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells with IC50 value of 14.3 μg/mL.

Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer in Rural Areas of Wuhan China: a Matched Case-control Study

Zhang, Bin,Zhou, Ai-Fen,Zhu, Chang-Cai,Zhang, Ling,Xiang, Bing,Chen, Zhong,Hu, Rong-Hua,Zhang, Ya-Qi,Qiu, Lin,Zhang, Yi-Ming,Xiong, Chao-Du,Du, Yu-Kai,Shi, Yu-Qin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem in developing countries. We investigated possible risk factors for cervical cancer in rural areas of Wuhan China using a matched case-control study with 33 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and 132 healthy women selected from the same area as matched controls. A questionnaire, which included questions about general demography conditions, environmental and genetic factors, the first sexual intercourse, first marriage age, age at first pregnancy, pregnancy first child's age, female personal health history, social psychological factors, dietary habits, smoking and alcohol status and other living habits was presented to all participants. At the same time, HPV infection of every participant was examined in laboratory testing. Results showed HPV infection (P<0.000, OR=23.4) and pregnancy first child's age (P<0.000, OR=13.1) to be risk factors for cervical cancer. Menopause (P=0.003, OR=0.073) was a protective factor against cervical cancer. However, there was no indication of associations of environmental (drinking water, insecticide, disinfectant) genetic (cancer family history), or life-style factors (smoking status, alcohol status, physical training, sleep quality), including dietary habits (intake of fruit and vegetable, meat, fried food, bean products and pickled food) or social psychological factors with cervical cancer. The results suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in Chinese rural women may be associated with HPV infection, menopause and the pregnancy first child's age.

Tracking the movement trajectory of newly emerged adult Chinese citrus flies with insect harmonic radar

Zhang-Zhang He,Jie Luo,Lian-You Gui,Deng-Ke Hua,Tian-Hua Du,Fu-Lian Wang,Peng Liang,Yong-Fang Shi,Xuan Yang 한국응용곤충학회 2019 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.22 No.3

Previous work reveals that the adult Chinese citrus fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein), emerges from the ground in citrus orchards and presumably disperses to alternate food sources in neighboring shrubs and trees, where it stays and becomes reproductively mature, and then later returns to the orchard to lay eggs. We investigated the trajectories of early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies, which were tracked with portable harmonic radar in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 in four different habitats in Hubei province of China that presumably provided food sources for adults. This study we investigated whether early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies migrate into forests. A total of 47 adults were tracked following release in a citrus orchard. Our results showed that a total of 33 adults released in a citrus orchard flew into the forest, and 14 adults that disappeared during the tracking process in the citrus orchard. A total of 10 adults (in 2014) that were tracked and released in the forest flew to the forest. Of the adult flies investigated, 54.5% flew directly into the forest, while the remaining 45.5% finally arrived in the forest after repeatedly adjusting their trajectories. When there were Castanea mollissima Blume (Fagaceae) in the surrounding forest, the proportion of frequency of adult landing on the plant represented 58.3% and 88.5% of landing on all species in 2014 and in 2015, respectively. We conclude that early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies in the mosaic-type citrus orchard of the hilly terrain landform dispersed into adjacent forest.

ACCURACY OF LAMOST DR1 STELLAR PARAMETERS

GAO, HUA,ZHANG, HUA-WEI,XIANG, MAO-SHENG,HUANG, YANG,LIU, XIAO-WEI,LUO, A-LI,ZHANG, HAO-TONG,WU, YUE,ZHANG, YONG,LI, GUANG-WEI,DU, BING The Korean Astronomical Society 2015 天文學論叢 Vol.30 No.2

We adopt the PASTEL catalog combined with SIMBAD radial velocities as a testing standard to validate the stellar parameters (effective temperature $T_{eff}$, surface gravity log g, metallicity [Fe/H] and radial velocity $V_r$) from the first data release (DR1) of The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey. After applying data reduction and temperature constraints to the sample obtained by cross-identification, we compare the stellar parameters from DR1 and PASTEL. The results show that the DR1 results are reliable under certain conditions. We derive a dispersion of 110 K, 0.19 dex, 0.11 dex and $4.91kms^{-1}$ in specified effective temperature ranges, for $T_{eff}$, log g, [Fe/H] and $V_r$ respectively. Systematic errors are negligible except for those of $V_r$. In addition, for stars with PASTEL [Fe/H] < -1:5, the metallicities in DR1 are systematically higher than those in PASTEL.

Expression of the Arabidopsis vacuolar $H^+$-pyrophosphatase gene AVP1 in peanut to improve drought and salt tolerance

Qin, Hua,Gu, Qiang,Kuppu, Sundaram,Sun, Li,Zhu, Xunlu,Mishra, Neelam,Hu, Rongbin,Shen, Guoxin,Zhang, Junling,Zhang, Yizheng,Zhu, Longfu,Zhang, Xianlong,Burow, Mark,Payton, Paxton,Zhang, Hong 한국식물생명공학회 2013 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.7 No.3

The Arabidopsis gene AVP1 encodes an $H^+$-pyrophosphatase that functions as a proton pump at the vacuolar membranes, generating a proton gradient across vacuolar membranes, which serves as the driving force for many secondary transporters on vacuolar membranes such as $Na^+/H^+$-antiporters. Overexpression of AVP1 could improve drought tolerance and salt tolerance in transgenic plants, suggesting a possible way in improving drought and salt tolerance in crops. The AVP1 was therefore introduced into peanut by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Analysis of AVP1-expressing peanut indicated that AVP1-overexpression in peanut could improve both drought and salt tolerance in greenhouse and growth chamber conditions, as AVP1-overexpressing peanuts produced more biomass and maintained higher photosynthetic rates under both drought and salt conditions. In the field, AVP1-overexpressing peanuts also outperformed wild-type plants by having higher photosynthetic rates and producing higher yields under low irrigation conditions.

Which Indicator Among Lumbar Vertebral Hounsfield Unit, Vertebral Bone Quality, or Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry-Measured Bone Mineral Density Is More Efficacious in Predicting Thoracolumbar Fragility Fractures?

Bo Zhang,Lu-Ping Zhou,Xian-Liang Zhang,Dui Li,Jia-Qi Wang,Chong-Yu Jia,Hua-Qing Zhang,Liang Kang,Ren-Jie Zhang,Cai-Liang Shen 대한척추신경외과학회 2023 Neurospine Vol.20 No.4

Objective: Hounsfield units (HU), vertebral bone quality (VBQ), and bone mineral density (BMD) can all serve as predictive indicators for thoracolumbar fragility fractures. This study aims to explore which indicator provides better risk prediction for thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Methods: Patients who have received medical attention from The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University for thoracolumbar fragility fractures were selected. A total of 78 patients with thoracolumbar fragility fractures were included in the study. To establish a control group, 78 patients with degenerative spinal diseases were matched to the fracture group on the basis of gender, age, and body mass index. The lumbar vertebral HU, the VBQ, and the BMD were obtained for all the 156 patients through computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The correlations among these parameters were analyzed. The area under curve (AUC) analysis was employed to assess the predictive efficacy and thresholds of lumbar vertebral HU, VBQ, and BMD in relation to the risk of thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Results: Among the cohort of 156 patients, lumbar vertebral HU exhibited a positive correlation with BMD (p < 0.01). Conversely, VBQ showed a negative correlation with HU, BMD (p < 0.05). HU and BMD displayed a favorable predictive efficacy for thoracolumbar fragility fractures (p < 0.01), with HU (AUC = 0.863) showcasing the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the DEXA-measured BMD (AUC = 0.813). VBQ (AUC = 0.602) ranked lowest among the 3 indicators. The thresholds for predicting thoracolumbar fragility fractures were as follows: HU (88),VBQ (3.37), and BMD (0.81). Conclusion: All 3 of these indicators, HU, VBQ, and BMD, can predict thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Notably, lumbar vertebral HU exhibits the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the BMD obtained through DEXA scanning, with VBQ demonstrating the lowest predictive efficacy.

Deformation analyses during subway shield excavation considering stiffness influences of underground structures

Zhang, Zhi-guo,Zhao, Qi-hua,Zhang, Meng-xi Techno-Press 2016 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.11 No.1

Previous studies for soil movements induced by tunneling have primarily focused on the free soil displacements. However, the stiffness of existing structures is expected to alter tunneling-induced ground movements, the sheltering influences for underground structures should be included. Furthermore, minimal attention has been given to the settings for the shield machine's operation parameters during the process of tunnels crossing above and below existing tunnels. Based on the Shanghai railway project, the soil movements induced by an earth pressure balance (EPB) shield considering the sheltering effects of existing tunnels are presented by the simplified theoretical method, the three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) simulation method, and the in-situ monitoring method. The deformation prediction of existing tunnels during complex traversing process is also presented. In addition, the deformation controlling safety measurements are carried out simultaneously to obtain the settings for the shield propulsion parameters, including earth pressure for cutting open, synchronized grouting, propulsion speed, and cutter head torque. It appears that the sheltering effects of underground structures have a great influence on ground movements caused by tunneling. The error obtained by the previous simplified methods based on the free soil displacements cannot be dismissed when encountering many existing structures.

Tax is Involved in Up-regulation of HMGB1 Expression Levels by Interaction with C/EBP

Zhang, Chen-Guang,Wang, Hui,Niu, Zhi-Guo,Zhang, Jing-Jing,Yin, Ming-Mei,Gao, Zhi-Tao,Hu, Li-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.1

The high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein is a multifunctional cytokine-like molecule that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of tumors. In this study, real-time polymerase chain reactions and Western blot assays indicated that HMGB1 transcriptional activity and protein level are increased in $Tax^+$-T cells (TaxP). To clarify the mechanisms, a series of HMGB1 deletion reporter plasmids (pHLuc1 to pHLuc6) were transfected into $Tax^-$-T cells (TaxN, Jurkat) and $Tax^+$-T cells (TaxP). We found that promoter activity in $Tax^+$-T cells to be higher than that in $Tax^-$-T cells, indicating a significant increase in pHLuc6. Bay11-7082 (NF-${\kappa}B$ inhibitor) treatment did not block the enhancing effect. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that Tax was retained on a HMGB1 promoter fragment encompassing -1163 to -975. Bioinformatics analysis showed six characteristic cis-elements for CdxA, AP-1, AML-1a, USF, v-Myb, and C/EBP in the fragment in question. Mutation of cis-elements for C/EBP reduced significant HMGB1 promoter activity induced by Tax. These findings indicate that Tax enhances the expression of HMGB1 gene at the transcriptional level, possibly by interacting with C/EBP.

Ranks of submatrices in a general solution to a quaternion system with applications

Hua-Sheng Zhang,Qing-Wen Wang 대한수학회 2011 대한수학회보 Vol.48 No.5

Assume that X, partitioned into 2×2 block form, is a solution of the system of quaternion matrix equations A_1XB_1=C_1,A_2XB_2=C_2. We in this paper give the maximal and minimal ranks of the submatrices in X, and establish necessary and sufficient conditions for the submatrices to be zero, unique as well as independent. As applications, we consider the common inner inverse G, partitioned into 2×2 block form, of two quaternion matrices M and N. We present the formulas of the maximal and minimal ranks of the submatrices of G, and describe the properties of the submatrices of G as well. The findings of this paper generalize some known results in the literature.

Effect of Peripheral Blood CD4 + CD25 + Regulatory T Cell on Postoperative Immunotherapy for Patients with Renal Carcinoma

Zhang, Chao-Hua,Huang, Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.4

Objective: To investigate the effect of peripheral blood CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cell on postoperative immunotherapy in patients with renal carcinoma. Methods: 38 patients with renal cell carcinoma were recruited, and 20 patients from the operation group purely underwent the radical nephrectomy therapy, 18 patients from the combined group successively underwent the radical nephrectomy therapy and IFN-${\alpha}$ adjuvant immunotherapy. Additionally, 12 healthy subjects were recruited in the same period of time and regarded as the control group. Flow cytometry was used to detect CD4 +, CD8 +, CD4 + CD25+ T lymphocyte subset content and the ratio of all parts in the pre-operative period, in the first post-operative week and in the third post-operative month, compare and analyze its variation trend. Results: The CD4+CD25+ T lymphocyte subset content of individual renal carcinoma patients was significantly higher than that of the control group, also increases with the progression in the tumor stage (P<0.05). The post-operative CD4 + CD25+T lymphocytes of individual operation group and combined group patients showed different degrees of increment, but the increment of the combined group was significantly lower than that of the operation group (P<0.05). For the combined group patients with less pre-operative CD4 + CD25+T lymphocytes, their levels would increase after the immunotherapy, while the pre-operative patients with more CD4 + CD25+ T lymphocytes were the opposite situation. Conclusion: The detection of peripheral blood CD4+CD25+ regulatory T lymphocyte subset can reflect the anti-tumor immune status of renal cell carcinoma patient body. It can contribute to predict the prognosis of immunotherapy and provide reference for the choice of renal carcinoma post-operative adjuvant immunotherapy.