The anti-obesity effect of lotus leaves on high-fat-diet-induced obesity by modulating lipid metabolism in C57BL/6J mice

Wu Ya,Tan Fang,Zhang Tianyu,Xie Binglin,Ran Lixian,Zhao Xin 한국응용생명화학회 2020 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.63 No.5

Lotus leaves (Nelumbo nucifera) are widely used in medicines and foods. The investigate systematically studied the anti-obesity effect of lotus leaf extracts. It could reduce body weight, alleviate liver damage, and inhibit fat accumulation in high-fat-diet-induced obese mice. Lotus leaf extracts reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels; decreased total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the serum; and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels to improve dyslipidemia. Lotus leaves also inhibited inflammation accompanied by obesity via decreasing inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and IL-6 levels and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4 and IL-10 levels. qPCR analysis revealed that lotus leaves upregulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), and cholesterol 7 alpha hydroxylase (CYP7A1) mRNA expressions and downregulated peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBP-α) mRNA expressions, to reduce adipocyte differentiation and fat accumulation, promote oxidation of fat and decomposition of triglyceride and cholesterol. So, lotus leaves effectively regulated lipid metabolism, alleviated inflammation and liver injury in obese mice; thus, lotus leaves could be further developed as a food to combat obesity.

Mechanism of lithium storage in MoS2 and the feasibility of using Li2S/Mo nanocomposites as cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Fang, Xiangpeng,Guo, Xianwei,Mao, Ya,Hua, Chunxiu,Shen, Lanyao,Hu, Yongsheng,Wang, Zhaoxiang,Wu, Feng,Chen, Liquan Wiley-VCH 2012 Chemistry, an Asian journal Vol.7 No.5

<P>The most-popular strategy to improve the cycling stability and rate performance of the sulfur electrode in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is to astrict the sulfur in a conducting medium by using complicated chemical/physical processing. Lithium sulfide (Li(2)S) has been proposed as an alternative electrode material to sulfur. However, for its application, it must meet challenges such as high instability in air together with all of the drawbacks of a sulfur-containing electrode. Herein, we report the feasibility of using Li(2)S, which was obtained by electrochemical conversion of commercial molybdenum disulfide (MoS(2)) into Li(2)S and metallic molybdenium (Mo) at low voltages, as a high-performance active material in Li-S batteries. Metallic Mo prevented the dissolution of lithium polysulfides into the electrolyte and enhanced the conductivity of the sulfide electrode. Therefore, the in situ electrochemically prepared Li(2)S/Mo composite exhibited both high cycling stability and high sulfur utilization.</P>

ABO Blood Group, Epstein-Barr virus Infection and Prognosis of Patients with Non-metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Zhang, Ya-Xiong,Kang, Shi-Yang,Chen, Gang,Fang, Wen-Feng,Wu, Xuan,You, Hua-Jing,He, Da-Cheng,Cao, Ya-Lin,Liang, Wen-Hua,Zhang, Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.17

Background: A prior study showed blood type A/AB to be associated with an increased risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to subjects with blood type O. However, the relationship between ABO blood groups and prognosis of NPC patients is still questionable. In addition, whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with prognosis of NPC patients with different ABO blood groups is unclear. Materials and Methods: We conducted univariate and multivariable Cox regression analyses based on a consecutive cohort of 1,601 patients to investigate the above issues. Results: There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between different ABO blood groups (p=0.629), neither between A vs. non-A blood groups (p=0.895) nor AB vs. non-AB blood group (p=0.309) in univariate analyses and after adjusting for other factors. Interaction tests revealed that high immunoglobulin A against Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen (VcA-IgA) level was associated with a favorable prognosis in male patients with UICC stage II disease who had an A blood type (p=0.008), compared with those with non-A blood type. In addition, male patients with an A blood group with a high blood lymphocyte level showeda tendency towards better survival in UICC stage III (p=0.096). Conclusions: ABO blood group status is not associated with the prognosis of patients with NPC. Additionally, blood group A male NPC patients with high VcA-IgA level or high blood lymphocyte counts might be correlated with a favorable prognosis in UICC stage II or III, respectively.

An Insect Counting and Recognition Method for Greenhouse Insect Pests on Sticky Paper using Convolutional Neural Network

( Lin-ya Chiu ),( Ya-fang Wu ),( Ta-te Lin ) 한국농업기계학회 2018 한국농업기계학회 학술발표논문집 Vol.23 No.1

Greenhouses are built to promote crop growth, but the same environment also allows pests to reproduce and affect crops. Placing sticky papers in the greenhouse allows monitoring of the number of insect pests in order to predict the breakout of insects and to take appropriate action. Currently, the insect pests on sticky papers are counted and identified by manual inspection which is very time consuming and laborious. In this study, an automatic counting and recognition system for whiteflies and thrips using a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach was developed. The system makes use of a scanner to scan the images of sticky papers with insects and to recognize the objects as whiteflies or thrips. A graphical user interface (GUI) is provided; it was designed using Qt with an OpenCV image processing library. To apply CNN for object detection and recognition, we used the YOLO (You Only Look Once) real-time object detection tool. The sticky papers were collected from several greenhouses and preserved by using cellophane sheets as cover. They were then scanned to obtain high resolution images. Insect image samples were labeled from the scanned sticky paper images to train the CNN object detector model. The object detector model was further optimized in terms of iteration time, detection threshold level, and sample image size. The optimized average recognition accuracies were 86.30% and 90.45% for whitefly and thrip, respectively. This work can be used for automated insect sticky paper checking which is necessary for quarantine purposes.

Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of Precast Shear Wall with Rabbet-Unbonded Horizontal Connection

Chong-fang Sun,Shu-ting Liang,Xiao-jun Zhu,Hu Li,Jian-min Guo,Gang Li,Ya-min Song,Dong-yue Wu 한국콘크리트학회 2020 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.14 No.1

This paper reports the results of a seismic performance study of a precast shear wall with a new horizontal connection. The new connection is the rabbet-unbonded horizontal connection, which is composed of rabbets and unbonded rebar segments. The rabbets are used to improve the shear capacity and prevent slippage of the connection, and the unbonded rebar segments are used to improve the ductility and energy dissipation. Three specimens were tested with different parameters under cyclic quasi-static loading. The test results showed that the specimen with a larger unbonded level had a richer hysteresis curve, larger ductility, larger energy dissipation, and slightly smaller bearing capacity. Moreover, in relation to the stiffness degradation, in the initial stage, the specimen with a larger unbonded level had a smaller stiffness, whereas in the last stage, the stiffnesses were similar regardless of the unbonded level. A parameter analysis using a finite element model proved that the ductility and energy dissipation of a shear wall with the rabbet-unbonded horizontal connection increased with the unbonded length and level. In addition, when the axial compression ratio increased, the bearing capacity increased, but the load-displacement curves decreased more rapidly. It was concluded that the unbonded length and unbonded level could effectively improve the ductility and energy dissipation of a shear wall. However, they should not be too large under high pressure, and the design suggestions for the new connection need further research considering other factors.

Changes in Glucose Metabolism after Adrenalectomy or Treatment with a Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist for Primary Aldosteronism

Yu-Fang Lin,Kang-Yung Peng,Chia-Hui Chang,Ya-Hui Hu,Vin-Cent Wu,Shiu-Dong Chung,Taiwan Primary Aldosteronism Investigation (TAIPAI) Study Group 대한내분비학회 2020 Endocrinology and metabolism Vol.35 No.4

Background: Data on the effects of excess aldosterone on glucose metabolism are inconsistent. This study compared the changes in glucose metabolism in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) after adrenalectomy or treatment with a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA). Methods: Overall, 241 patients were enrolled; 153 underwent adrenalectomy and 88 received an MRA. Fasting glucose, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and homeostatic model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β) were compared between the treatment groups after 1 year. Plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and factors determining HOMA-IR and PAC were evaluated. Results: No baseline differences were observed between the groups. Fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and HOMA-β increased in both groups and there were no significant differences in fasting glucose following treatment. Multiple regression analysis showed associations between PAC and HOMA-IR (β=0.172, P=0.017) after treatment. Treatment with spironolactone was the only risk factor associated with PAC >30 ng/dL (odds ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7 to 10; P<0.001) and conferred a 2.48-fold risk of insulin resistance after 1 year compared with surgery (95% CI, 1.3 to 4.8; P=0.007). Conclusion: Spironolactone treatment might increase insulin resistance in patients with PA. This strengthened the current recommendation that adrenalectomy is the preferred strategy for patient with positive lateralization test. Achieving a post-treatment PAC of <30 ng/dL for improved insulin sensitivity may be appropriate.

Effect of Active Synthetic 2-Substituted Quinazolinones on Anti-Platelet Aggregation and the Inhibition of Superoxide Anion Generation by Neutrophils

Chang, Fang-Rong,Wu, Chin-Chung,Hwang, Tsong-Long,Patnam, Ramesh,Kuo, Reen-Yen,Wang, Wei-Ya,Lan, Yu-Hsuan,Wu, Yang-Chang The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea 2003 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.26 No.7

Quinazolinones, 2-substituted and 3-substituted, mainly synthesized by microwave irradiation, were subjected to anti-platelet aggregation and inhibition of superoxide anion generation assays. Interestingly, 2-phenyl-4-quinazolinone (4) exhibited significant inhibitory activities toward platelet aggregation and neutrophil activation, and it might therefore serve as a prototype lead compound.

Protective Effect of Andrographolide on Alleviating Chronic Alcoholic Liver Disease in Mice by Inhibiting Nuclear Factor Kappa B and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Activation

Yuan Song,Xiangqun Wu,Di Yang,Fang Fang,Lingshi Meng,Ya Liu,Weiwei Cui 한국식품영양과학회 2020 Journal of medicinal food Vol.23 No.4

Much research has indicated that alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is associated with oxidative stress and inflammation induced by ethanol, and that numerous antioxidants could effectively alleviate such injuries. Moreover, recent studies have identified andrographolide (AD) as having strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, which can block oxidative damage associated with nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)-mediated inflammation. However, the biological role and potential mechanism of AD in its protection against ALD have not been fully characterized. To observe the possible effect of AD, male C57BL/6J mice received ethanol through intragastrical gavage for 12 weeks in this study. The ethanol group was separated into five subgroups: (1) model group (n = 10); (2) silymarin group (0.1 mg/g body weight [BW], n = 10); (3) AD (0.05 mg/g BW) group (n = 10); (4) AD (0.1 mg/g BW) group (n = 10); and (5) AD (0.2 mg/g BW) group (n = 10). Mice in AD groups were treated orally by gavage once per day. The experimental results show that serum aminotransferase, liver lipids, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant capacities were significantly changed in the model group after alcohol treatment, and the liver tissue histological findings showed pathological changes. Compared with the model group, treatment with AD improved serum aminotransferase, liver function, lipid accumulation, and hepatic reactive oxygen species levels. And AD decreased the hepatic NF-κB and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) protein expression of ALD mice. This research demonstrated that AD can alleviate liver pathological injury and oxidative stress in mice exposed to ethanol by decreasing the expression of NF-κB and TNF-α.

AZD1480 Can Inhibit the Biological Behavior of Ovarian Cancer SKOV3 Cells in vitro

Sun, Zhao-Ling,Tang, Ya-Juan,Wu, Wei-Guang,Xing, Jun,He, Yan-Fang,Xin, De-Mei,Yu, Yan-Li,Yang, Yang,Han, Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.8

Objective: To study the mechanism of effects of AZD1480 on the SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell line. Methods: The MTT method was used to assess cellular proliferation, flow cytometry for cellular apoptosis, the scratch test to determine migration, transwell chamber assays to detect cellular invasion, plate clone experiments to detect the clone forming ability and Western blotting to determine p-STAT3 protein levels. Results: The proliferation rate, migration ability, invasiveness and the clone forming ability of SKOV3 cells were reduced after treatment with AZD1480, while apoptosis rate and chemotherapeutic susceptibility were increased. After treatment with AZD1480 plus cisplatin, the apoptosis rate increased significantly while the expression level of p-STAT3 protein was decreased. Conclusion: AZD1480 can inhibit the proliferation, invasion, metastasis and clone formation of SKOV3 cells, induce cellulsar apoptosis, increase the chemotherapeutic sensitivity and reduce the expression level of p-STAT3 protein.

Roles of Immunohistochemical Staining in Diagnosing Pulmonary Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Yan, Yue,Zhang, Ya-Xiong,Fang, Wen-Feng,Kang, Shi-Yang,Zhan, Jian-Hua,Chen, Nan,Hong, Shao-Dong,Liang, Wen-Hua,Tang, Yan-Na,He, Da-Cheng,Wu, Xuan,Zhang, Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Background: Differentiating morphologic features based on hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining is the most common method to classify pathological subtypes of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its accuracy and inter-observer reproducibility in pathological diagnosis of poorly differentiated NSCLC remained to be improved. Materials and Methods: We attempted to explore the role of immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in diagnosing pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) with poorly differentiated features by HE staining or with elevated serum adenocarcinoma-specific tumor markers (AD-TMs). We also compared the difference of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation rate between patients with confirmed SQCC and those with revised pathological subtype. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the association between different factors and diagnostic accuracy. Results: A total of 132 patients who met the eligible criteria and had adequate specimens for IHC confirmation were included. Pathological revised cases in poor differentiated subgroup, biopsy samples and high-level AD-TMs cases were more than those with high/moderate differentiation, surgical specimens and normal-level AD-TMs. Moreover, biopsy sample was a significant factor decreasing diagnostic accuracy of pathological subtype (OR, 4.037; 95% CI 1.446-11.267, p=0.008). Additionally, EGFR mutation rate was higher in patients with pathological diagnostic changes than those with confirmed SQCC (16.7% vs 4.4%, p=0.157). Conclusions: Diagnosis based on HE staining only might cause pathological misinterpretation in NSCLC patients with poor differentiation or high-level AD-TMs, especially those with biopsy samples. HE staining and IHC should be combined as pathological diagnostic standard. The occurrence of EGFR mutations in pulmonary SQCC might be overestimated.