Statistical Optimization of Medium Components for Milk-Clotting Enzyme Production by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens D4 Using Wheat Bran-an Agro-Industry Waste

( Wei Bing Zhang ),( Xiao Ling He ),( Hong Na Liu ),( Hui Yuan Guo ),( Fa Zheng Ren ),( Wei Dong Gao ),( Peng Cheng Wen ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2013 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.23 No.8

In this paper, two statistical methods were applied to optimize medium components to improve the production of the milk-clotting enzyme by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens D4. First, wheat bran juice, skim milk powder, and Na2HPO4 were shown to have significant effects on D4 enzyme production using the Plackett?Burman experimental design. Subsequently, an optimal medium was obtained using the Box?Behnken method, which consisted of 3.31 g/l of skim milk powder, 5.0 g/l of sucrose, 0.1 g/l of FeSO4?7H2O, 0.1 g/l of MgSO4?7H2O, 0.1 g/l of MnSO4?2H2O, 0.1 g/l of ZnSO4?7H2O, 1.52 g/l of Na2HPO4, and 172.45 g/l of wheat bran juice. With this optimal medium, the milk-clotting enzyme production was remarkably enhanced. The milk-clotting enzyme activity reached 3,326.7 SU/ml after incubation of 48 h, which was 1.76-fold higher than that of the basic medium, showing that the Plackett?Burman design and Box?Behnken response surface method are effective to optimize medium components, and B. amyloliquefaciens D4 possessed a high rennet-producing capacity in the optimal medium.

The MTHFR C677T Polymorphism and Prostate Cancer Risk: New Findings from a Meta-analysis of 7306 Cases and 8062 Controls

Zhang, Wei-Bing,Zhang, Jun-Hong,Pan, Zheng-Qi,Yang, Qi-Sheng,Liu, Bo Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.6

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an essential enzyme involved in folate metabolism; a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) C677T has been reported to be linked with altered incidences of several diseases. We here conducted a meta-analysis of 15 published epidemiological studies with a total of 7306 cases and 8062 controls to evaluate its association with prostate cancer risk with overall and subgroup analyses. No statistical relationship was found overall with any genetic model (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.80, 95%CI = [0.62, 1.04], P = 0.094; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.97, 95%CI = [0.84; 1.12], P = 0.667; Dominant: OR = 0.94, 95%CI = [0.82; 1.07], P = 0.343; Recessive: OR = 0.81, 95%CI = [0.64; 1.04], P = 0.104), but after the exclusion of several studies, we could observe the homozygote TT to confer less susceptibility to prostate cancer in carriers; moreover, different effects of the polymorphism on prostate cancer risk was detected from subgroup analysis stratified by participants' residential region: significant reduced prostate cancer risk was found to be associated with the polymorphism from Asian studies (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.47, 95%CI = [0.33; 0.67], P < 0.001; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.73, 95%CI = [0.60; 0.90], P = 0.002; Dominant: OR = 0.67, 95%CI = [0.56; 0.82], P < 0.001; Recessive: OR = 0.55, 95%CI = [0.40; 0.76], P < 0.001) while studies from Europe indicated a slight increased risk under dominant model with marginal significance (OR = 1.14, 95%CI = [0.99; 1.30], P = 0.064). Moreover, the protective effect of the polymorphism against prostate cancer was also shown by studies performed in yellow Asians (TT vs. CC: OR = 0.48, 95%CI = [0.31; 0.75], P = 0.001; CT vs. CC: OR = 0.68, 95%CI = [0.51; 0.90], P = 0.006; Dominant: OR = 0.63, 95%CI = [0.48; 0.82], P < 0.001; Recessive: OR = 0.57, 95%CI = [0.39; 0.84], P = 0.004). We propose that these phenomena should be viewed with the consideration of folate metabolism profile and different gene background as well as living habits of different populations, and more relevant studies should be conducted to confirm our hypothesis and provide a comprehensive and clear picture concerning this topic.

Safe Range of Retaining Pressure for Three-dimensional Face of Pressurized Tunnels based on Limit Analysis and Reliability Method

Jiahua Zhang,Wei-jun Wang,Dao-bing Zhang,Biao Zhang,Fei Meng 대한토목학회 2018 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.22 No.11

Based on the existing research, the 3D active and passive failure mechanisms of a pressurized tunnel face are constructed. The nonlinear failure criterion is introduced into the limit analysis by virtue of the tangent technique. By neglecting the randomness of soil parameters, the collapse pressure of active failure and the blowout pressure of passive failure, namely the lower and upper limit of retaining pressure, are obtained along with the failure ranges. On account of the randomness of soil properties, a three-dimensional stochastic model of a pressurized tunnel face is established, and the optimal range of retaining pressure of the pressurized tunnel face is presented on the basis of the multiple correlated failure modes. Taking Changsha Metro Line 2 as an example, the good agreement of the measured data in situ with the reasonable range of retaining pressure verifies the presented method. The combination of limit analysis and reliability method can provide more scientific and reasonable support parameters for the construction of pressurized tunnels in the future.

Association Between Organic Dust Exposure and Adult-Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies

Yan Zhang,Bing Ye,Hongling Zheng,Wei Zhang,Lin Han,Peng Yuan,Chao Zhang 대한천식알레르기학회 2019 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.11 No.6

Background: Exposure to organic dust has been widely investigated as a potential risk factor for asthma with different results. To clarify a potential relationship, we performed the present meta-analysis to integrate the results of studies examining the association of organic dust exposure with asthma. Methods: A comprehensive literature search in the electronic databases including EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library databases (up to August 2018) was conducted. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for organic dust exposure and asthma were retrieved and pooled to generate summary effect estimates in Revman 5.2. Results: Database searches retrieved 1,016 records. A total of 17 studies containing 3,619 cases and 6,585 controls were finally included in our meta-analysis. The summary estimates suggested that organic dust exposure was positively associated with asthma (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.26–1.75; P < 0.00001), whether among population-based case-control studies (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.13–1.35; P < 0.00001) or hospital-based case-control studies (OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.27–6.12; P = 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that paper/wood (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.38–1.90; P < 0.00001), flour/grain (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.11–1.97; P = 0.008), and textile dust (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.08–2.09; P = 0.02) exposure were significantly associated with asthma. Conclusions: Based on the studies evaluated, our meta-analysis results prompt that organic dust exposure is a risk factor inducing asthma, although precise analysis focus on specific organic dust materials is still warranted.

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.

Characterization of the composition and gene expression involved the shikimate pathway in the exocarp of ‘Dangshansuli’ pear and its russet mutant

Bing Jia,Zhaoyang Cheng,Qi Wang,Shujun Zhang,Wei Heng,Liwu Zhu 한국원예학회 2021 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.62 No.1

‘Dangshansuli’ pear is a yellow–green fruit when mature, whereas that of the mutant ‘Xiusu’ is russeted. In this study, thecontents of glucose, fructose and sucrose in the exocarp of ‘Xiusu’ were found to be lower than those in ‘Dangshansuli’ at75–100 days after full bloom (DAFB) but were higher at 150 DAFB. Additionally, the contents of six polysaccharides inthe exocarp of ‘Xiusu’ were higher than those in ‘Dangshansuli’ at 75 DAFB, the stage at which ‘Xiusu’ becomes russetin color, as well as at 150 DAFB; however, this was not observed for xylose. The contents of type I and II amino acids inthe exocarp of ‘Xiusu’ were higher than those in ‘Dangshansuli’ at diff erent stages, except for at 150 DAFB. The entiresequences of eight genes involved in the shikimate pathway and cell wall structure were cloned, and expression of thesegenes in the exocarp of ‘Dangshansuli’ and ‘Xiusu’ were signifi cantly diff erent during fruit development, indicating thatthese genes might be involved in the russeting process. It is speculated that the shikimate pathway connects primary andsecondary metabolism and that high contents of sugars as carbon sources provide precursors for suberin, lignin and lignanto generate russet skin in pear.

Effect of Argon Gas Pressure on Residual Stress, Microstructure Evolution and Electrical Resistivity of Beryllium Films

Bing-Chi Luo,Kai Li,Ji-Qiang Zhang,Jiang-Shan Luo,Wei-Dong Wu,Yong-Jian Tang 한국물리학회 2016 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.68 No.4

The residual stress in beryllium films fabricated on K9 substrates by using magnetron sputtering deposition is measured by using a curvature method and is theoretically estimated by using the Nix and Clemens (NC) model. The experimental results indicate that the 1.3-μm-thick film is always in a tensile state for pressure variations in the range from 0.4 to 1.2 Pa. When the sputtering gas pressure is increased, the average stress increases at first, after which it decreases by a remarkable amount. The observed descending trend of the tensile stress when the sputtering gas pressure is beyond 0.6 Pa is mainly attributed to the grain size in the film being larger than that in the film when the pressure is below 0.6 Pa. The maximal residual stress of 552 MPa at a sputtering gas pressure of 0.6 Pa is close to the tensile strength (550 MPa) of the corresponding beryllium bulk material and is about 8 times smaller than that calculated by using the N-C model. In addition, the surface morphologies of the as-fabricated films reveal fibrous grains while the cross-sectional morphologies are characterized by a coarsening of columnar grains. The measured electric resistivity of each film strongly depends on its porosity and the sizes of its grains.

Streptomyces lushanensis sp. nov., a novel actinomycete with anti-cyanobacterial activity

Zhang, Bing-Huo,Cheng, Juan,Chen, Wei,Li, Han-Quan,Yang, Jian-Yuan,Park, Dong-Jin,Kim, Chang-Jin,Shen, Rui,Duan, Yan-Qin,Li, Wen-Jun Nature Publishing Group 2015 The Journal of Antibiotics Vol. No.

<P>Strain JXJ 0135(T), an anti-cyanobacterial actinomycete, was isolated from a soil sample collected from Lushan Mountain, south China, and identified by using polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis of the near-complete 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain JXJ 0135(T) belongs to the genus Streptomyces and exhibited distinct subclade and also highest similarity (98.6%) to Streptomyces scopuliridis RB72(T). The strain developed well-branched substrate and aerial mycelia, and produced spiral spore chains. Spores were elliptical and the spore surface was smooth. The strain contained LL-diaminopimelic acid with whole-cell sugars of mannose, rhamnose, glucose and galactose. Phospholipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, phosphotidylinositol dimannoside, an unidentified aminophospholipid and an unknown phospholipid. The menaquinones were MK-9(H6) and MK-9(H8). The major components of the fatty acids were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, anteiso-C17:0, iso-C15:0, C16:0, iso-C17:0 and iso-C14:0. The G+C content was 69.3?mol%. The DNA-DNA hybridization value between JXJ 0135(T) and S. scopuliridis RB72(T) was 41.21.4%. On the basis of the polyphasic data, strain JXJ 0135(T) represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces lushanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JXJ 0135(T) (=DSM 42121(T)=JCM 19628(T)=KCTC 29261(T)=KACC 17834(T)=NRRL B-24994(T)).</P>

A Novel Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Derivative, N25, Exhibiting Improved Antitumor Activity in both Human U251 and H460 Cells

Zhang, Song,Huang, Wei-Bin,Wu, Li,Wang, Lai-You,Ye, Lian-Bao,Feng, Bing-Hong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.10

$N^1$-(2, 5-dimethoxyphenyl)-$N^8$-hydroxyoctanediamide (N25) is a novel SAHA cap derivative of HDACi, with a patent (No. CN 103159646). This invention is a hydroxamic acid compound with a structural formula of $RNHCO(CH_2)6CONHOH$ (wherein R=2, 5dimethoxyaniline), a pharmaceutically acceptable salt which is soluble. In the present study, we investigated the effects of N25 with regard to drug distribution and molecular docking, and anti-proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycling, and $LD_{50}$. First, we designed a molecular approach for modeling selected SAHA derivatives based on available structural information regarding human HDAC8 in complex with SAHA (PDB code 1T69). N25 was found to be stabilized by direct interaction with the HDAC8. Anti-proliferative activity was observed in human glioma U251, U87, T98G cells and human lung cancer H460, A549, H1299 cells at moderate concentrations ($0.5-30{\mu}M$). Compared with SAHA, N25 displayed an increased antitumor activity in U251 and H460 cells. We further analyzed cell death mechanisms activated by N25 in U251 and H460 cells. N25 significantly increased acetylation of Histone 3 and inhibited HDAC4. On RT-PCR analysis, N25 increased the mRNA levels of p21, however, decreased the levels of p53. These resulted in promotion of apoptosis, inducing G0/G1 arrest in U251 cells and G2/M arrest in H460 cells in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner. In addition, N25 was able to distribute to brain tissue through the blood-brain barrier of mice ($LD_{50}$: 240.840mg/kg). In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that N25 will provide an invaluable tool to investigate the molecular mechanism with potential chemotherapeutic value in several malignancies, especially human glioma.

KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 Serve as Markers of Infiltration, Metastasis, and Prognosis in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Zhang, Bing-Hui,Liu, Wei,Li, Liang,Lu, Jian-Guang,Sun, Ya-Nan,Jin, De-Jun,Xu, Xiu-Yu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.6

Objective: The current study explored the expression of KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 and its significance in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods: The expression levels of KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 in 100 LSCC tissue specimens, as well as in 30 para-LSCC non-carcinomatous tissue specimens randomly taken from the patients, were assessed using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) and immunohistochemistry and correlations with pathological parameters of LSCC and their influence on survival function were analyzed. Results: KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 showed basically consistent changes in both mRNA and protein expression. Their expression in the 30 LSCC specimens was significantly lower compared with that in the corresponding non-carcinous tissues (P < 0.01 or 0.05), notably correlating with TNM stage, differentiation degree, clinical stage, and lymphatic metastasis (P < 0.01 or 0.05), but not gender, age, and LSCC growth sites (P > 0.05). The median survival of patients with positive KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 protein expression was longer than that of patients with negative protein expression (P < 0.01 or 0.05). KAI1/CD82 protein expression negatively correlated with MRP1/CD9 protein expression in LSCC (${\chi}^2$= 31.25, P < 0.01). Conclusion: KAI1/CD82 and MRP1/CD9 may jointly participate in the development of LSCC. They may serve as the markers for judging the infiltration, metastasis, and prognosis of LSCC.