Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Prostaglandin-endoperoxide Synthase 2 (PTGS2) and Phospholipase A₂ Group IIA (PLA2G2A) Genes with Susceptibility to Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Liu, Fen,Wei, Wen-Qiang,Cormier, Robert T.,Zhang, Shu-Tian,Qiao, You-Lin,Li, Xin-Qing,Zhu, Sheng-Tao,Zhai, Yan-Chun,Peng, Xiao-Xia,Yan, Yu-Xiang,Wu, Li-Juan,He, Dian,He, Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.4

Background: The prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) and phospholipase A2 group IIA (PLA2G2A) genes encode enzymes that are involved in arachidonic acid and prostaglandin biosynthesis. Dysregulation of both genes is associated with inflammation and carcinogenesis, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We therefore hypothesized that there is an association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes and susceptibility to ESCC. Methods: We performed a gene-wide tag SNP-based association study to examine the association of SNPs in PTGS2 and PLA2G2A with ESCC in 269 patients and 269 healthy controls from Taihangshan Mountain, Henan and Hebei Provinces, the rural area of China which has the highest incidence of esophageal cancer in the world. Thirteen tag SNPs in PLA2G2A and 4 functional SNPs in PTGS2 were selected and genotyped using a high-throughput Mass Array genotyping platform. Results: We found a modest increased risk of ESCC in subjects with the PTGS2 rs12042763 AA genotype (OR=1.23; 95% CI, 1.00-3.04) compared with genotype GG. For PLA2G2A, a decreased risk of ESCC was observed in subjects with the rs11677 CT (OR=0.51, 95%CI, 0.29-0.85) or TT genotype (OR=0.51, 95%CI, 0.17-0.96) or the T carriers (CT+TT) (OR=0.52, 95%CI, 0.31-0.85) when compared with the CC genotype. Also for PLA2G2A, rs2236771 C allele carriers were more frequent in the control group (P=0.02). Subjects with the GC (OR=0.55, 95%CI, 0.33-0.93) or CC genotype (OR=0.38, 95% CI, 0.16-0.94) or the C carriers (GC+CC) (OR=0.52, 95%CI, 0.32-0.85) showed a negative association with ESCC susceptibility. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PTGS2 and PLA2G2A gene polymorphisms may modify the risk of ESCC development.

Kinetostatic Modeling of Bridge-Type Amplifiers Based on Timoshenko Beam Constraint Model

Peng-Bo Liu,Peng Yan 한국정밀공학회 2018 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.19 No.9

In this paper, we develop an accurate kinetostatic modeling method for bridge-type amplifiers by incorporating the impacts of nonlinear shear effect, center-shifting and load-stiffening. To account for the nonlinear stress-stiffening and shear effects, a Timoshenko Beam Constraint Model (TBCM) is first investigated to accurately predict the deformations of the short beam flexure hinges popularly employed in the bridge-type amplifiers. Accordingly, a flexible branched chain model is established for bridge-type amplifiers, where the input and output displacements, as well as the displacement amplification ratio and the input stiffness, are derived. The results indicate significant nonlinearities of the amplification ratio and the input stiffness with respect to the driving forces, which are further verified by the finite element analysis (FEA) results. The proposed modeling method can derive a more accurate model of the bridgetype amplification mechanism to capture its kinetostatic behaviors, which can better support the design and control of flexure mechanism based nano-manipulating systems.

Flexure-Hinges Guided Nano-Stage for Precision Manipulations: Design, Modeling and Control

Peng-Bo Liu,Peng Yan,Zhen Zhang,Tong-Tong Leng 한국정밀공학회 2015 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

In this paper, a novel piezoelectric actuator driven nano-stage with bridge type mechanism is studied from the perspectives of design optimization, dynamical modeling, as well as controller synthesis for high precision manipulation purposes. FEM (Finite Element Method) analysis and dynamical modeling are provided to derive the system model including the hysteresis nonlinearity. Considering the complexities of dynamical uncertainties and hysteresis nonlinearity, an active disturbance rejection controller is developed consisting of extended state observer (ESO), state feedback controller and profile generator. With the proposed algorithm, the nonlinear dynamics, system uncertainties and external disturbances can be treated as part of the “total disturbances”, such that the extended state observer can be used to estimate and suppress the effects of these complex dynamics. The proposed control algorithm is deployed in real time implementations on the designed nano-stage, where experimental results demonstrate good control performance in terms of high precision positioning, hysteresis compensation and disturbance rejection.

Glutathione S-transferase M1 Null Genotype and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Susceptibility in China and India: Evidence from an Updated Meta-analysis

Liu, Hong-Zhou,Peng, Jie,Peng, Chun-Yan,Yan, Ming,Zheng, Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.12

Background: Glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) have been reported to be associated with hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the effect of the GSTMl null genotype was divergent in the literature and we therefore performed the present meta-analysis to explore the relationship in detail. Materials and Metbods: Reported studies were searched from 1990 to March 1, 2014 in PubMed and Wanfang Med Online. The total odds oatio (OR) and 95% CI were calculated and analyzed by Review Manager 5.1 and STATE 12. Results: Total OR was calculated from 26 articles with 3,769 cases and 5,517 controls and the association proved significant (OR [95%CI]=1.50 [1.25, 1.80], P<0.05) in the Chinese population. However, there was no significant association between hepatocellular carcinoma risk among subjects carrying the GSTM1 null genotype (OR [95%CI]=1.20 [0.88-1.64], P=0.24) in subgroups of publication in English and in Indian populations (OR [95%CI]=1.80 [0.80-4.20], P=0.15). Conclusions: The GSTM1 deletion polymorphism might not have a significant effect on the susceptibility of hepatocellular carcinoma overall.

HOW CHINESE FIRMS RESPONSE TO FOOD NUTRITION LABEL REGULATION

Peng Zou,Yan Liu 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

Recent decades have seen a number of policies have been launched to promote information disclosure on food products marketed in developed countries. There has also been increasing efforts to promote healthy eating in developing economies (Cowburn & Stockley 2005). A good example appears in China, where, in an effort to improve health education, nutrition labels became mandatory under the Nutrition Labeling Act (NLA) since 2013. Additionally, food labeling regulations were issued by India, Mercosur members and South Africa. While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, there are some key gaps in the nutrition labeling literature. One issue of how standardized information requirements affect firm marketing responses (e.g., advertising levels. R&D investment, and corporate social responsibility programs) and performance has been understudied. Another clear gap in the literature is how nutritional labeling requirements affect developing economies.

INVESTOR RESPONSE TO FOOD NUTRITION LABELING REGULATION IN CHINA

Peng Zou,Qiaolian Cheng,Guofeng Li,Yan Liu 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

Product labels are one way for advertisers to provide information to purchasers on product quality (Atkinson & Rosenthal, 2014). Label policies have been issued to promote information disclosure on food products in some developed countries. Recent years have also seen increasing attempts to promote healthy eating in emerging markets. In China, nutrition labels became mandatory under the nutrition labeling acts. The laws require nutrition information to be presented at the point of purchase as well as in establishments where food is prepared or consumed. Additionally, similar actions were taken by India (India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2011), Mercosur members and in South Africa (Brazilian Ministry of Health, 2012; Institute of Food Technologists [IFT], 2011). While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, some key gaps remain in the nutrition labeling literature. First, a great deal of marketing research has focused on consumer responses (e.g., Balasubramanian & Cole, 2002; Hieke & Taylor, 2012; Ippolito & Mathios, 1995; Parker & Lehmann, 2014; Shah, Bettman, Ubel, Keller, & Edell, 2014) and firm responses (e.g., Moorman 1998; Moorman, Du, & Mela, 2005; Moorman, Ferraro, & Huber, 2012) to nutrition labeling laws. Although stock market investors express greater interest in information about nutrition issues that can be integrated into financial analyses (Global Access to Nutrition Index [ATNI] Investor Statement, 2013), the issue of how standardized information requirements affect investors’ responses in financial markets has been understudied. As used here, standardized product-information disclosure refers to a requirement to present facts about firms’ offerings in a common format using uniform metrics (Moorman et al. 2012). Understanding the extent to which investors consider product information-disclosure polices when they make investment decisions is important because a company’s financial health is not only the ultimate measure for the success or failure of any strategic initiative (Luo & Bhattacharya, 2009), but also one of the most important measures of public policy effectiveness (Joshi & Hanssens, 2010; Srinivasan & Hanssens, 2009; Schwert, 1981). Moreover, urgent concerns have spilled over from the product market to the financial market (Chen, Ganesan, & Liu, 2009) due to the enormous economic costs and damage to firms’ reputations in product-harm crises (e. g., melamine contamination in several Chinese brands of infant milk powder) (Ngo, 2014). Another gap in the literature is how nutritional-labeling requirements affect emerging markets. In contrast to the situation in long-developed countries, emerging markets are subject to different pressures for food marketers and thus a distinctive environment surrounds the regulation of food product labeling. In China, food safety and quality is considered an urgent concern, and the issue has forced regulators and companies to take action (Yan, 2008). Unlike mature stock markets, the majority of investors in China are individuals (Chen, Li, & Shi, 2010). The Chinese markets are under-regulated and deficient in gathering and disseminating information to private or public organizations, and it is difficult for listed firms with insufficient records to form reputations (Singh et al., 2005). As a result, information asymmetry is accentuated and imperfect signals released from firms highly impact investor decisions. Thus, examining the effectiveness of labeling requirements in developing economies is important as is comparing these results to those found in more developed countries. Despite the importance of the issue in emerging markets, empirical work for investigating investor response to the public policy of nutrition labeling (Ghani, & Childs, 1999) or firms’ nutrition claim strategies (Cao & Yan, 2016) has been restricted in developed markets (e.g., the U.S.). Little is understood the changes in corporate financial performance because of regulations requiring product information disclosure in emerging markets. As a result of the pressures for consumer protection and regulation, it is increasingly important for policy makers to be able to understand the financial consequences of such regulation because of information disclosure policies (Moorman et al., 2005). Thus, an additional contribution of this study is to help better inform the policy debate in emerging markets. To fill these research gaps, we investigated the influence of the influx of standardized product information on the stock market. Specifically, we conducted an event study to examine the effect on firms’ stock values from the issuance of the food nutrition label acts (FNLAs) in China, a fast-growing emerging market. The acts require food manufacturers to provide standardized nutritional information on pre-packaged food labels. This study contributes to the marketing literature on the financial impact of regulation in emerging markets. In China, on the day the FNLA was issued, they were associated with positive abnormal stock returns of related firms. This result is contrary to the study by Ghani and Childs (1999) that reported that the NLEA passage showed a negative impact on firms’ stock prices. Second, the financial value from the issuance of regulations was strengthened by three marketing leverages—advertising, donations, and R&D. Finally, although Moorman et al. argued that the NLEA increased the number of small-share firms exiting the U.S. market (Moorman et al., 2005), we found that in the short term, large firms benefited less than small firms from product information disclosure in China’s stock market. These findings provide empirical evidence that regulatory controls create changes in shareholder wealth and provide an assessment of the financial market’s perceptions regarding the role of mandatory product- information disclosure in future corporate growth. In addition, evidence of the effects of regulatory changes on wealth is of significant value to policymakers and market participants as they evaluate the benefits and costs of information disclosure in emerging markets.

HYDROTHERMAL SYNTHESIS AND ENHANCED VISIBLE-LIGHT PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF CdS QUANTUM DOTS SENSITIZED CARBON NANOTUBES (CNTs) NANOCOMPOSITE

XINLIN LIU,Yongsheng Yan,Qian Wang,Peng Lv,GUANXIN YAO,CHANGCHANG MA,Yan Yan,Yanfeng Tang 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2014 NANO Vol.9 No.2

A new-type photocatalyst of cadmium sul¯de carbon nanotubes (CdS/CNTs) was prepared bythe hydrothermal method. This as-prepared CdS/CNTs composite photocatalyst was proved toexhibit an excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of tetracycline (TC). Specially, the95%-CdS – 5%-CNTs composite photocatalyst played the best degradation rate (81.2%) in 60 minunder the visible light irradiation. Moreover, this 95%-CdS – 5%-CNTs composite photocatalystpossessed great stability and could be used at least four cycles with almost no loss of photo-catalytic e±ciency. Furthermore, the as-synthesized CdS/CNTs composite photocatalyst wascharacterized by X-ray di®raction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Visdi®used re°ectance spectra (UV-Vis), Raman and thermal gravimetry (TG). In addition, thepossible mechanism and kinetics of photodegradation of TC with CdS/CNTs photocatalyst wasalso discussed.

A Rapidly New-typed Detection of Norovirus Based on F0F1-ATPase Molecular Motor Biosensor

Zhuo Zhao,Jie Zhang,Mei-Ling Xu,Zhi-Peng Liu,Hua Wang,Ming Liu,Yan-Yan Yu,Li Sun,Hui Zhang,Hai-Yan Wu 한국생물공학회 2016 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.21 No.1

In order to adapt port rapid detection of food borne norovirus, presently we developed a new typed detection method based on F0F1-ATPase molecular motor biosensor. A specific probe was encompassed the conservative region of norovirus and F0F1-ATPase within chromatophore was constructed as a molecular motor biosensor through the “ε-subunit antibody-streptomycinbiotin- probe” system. Norovirus was captured based on probe-RNA specific binding. Our results demonstrated that the Limit of Quantification (LOQ) is 0.005 ng/mL for NV RNA and also demonstrated that this method possesses specificity and none cross-reaction for food borne virus. What’s more, the experiment used this method could be accomplished in 1 h. We detected 10 samples by using this method and the results were consistent with RT-PCR results. Overall, based on F0F1-ATPase molecular motors biosensor system we firstly established a new typed detection method for norovirus detection and demonstrated that this method is sensitive and specific and can be used in the rapid detection for food borne virus.

Clinical and Prognostic Significance of SOX11 in Breast Cancer

Liu, Dao-Tong,Peng-Zhao, Peng-Zhao,Han, Jing-Yan,Lin, Fan-Zhong,Bu, Xian-Min,Xu, Qing-Xia Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Recently, the transcription factor SOX11 has gained extensive attention as a diagnostic marker in a series of cancers. However, to date, the possible roles of SOX11 in breast cancer has not been investigated. In this study, immunohistochemical staining for SOX11 was performed for 116 cases of breast cancer. Nuclear SOX11 was observed in 42 (36.2%) and cytoplasmic SOX11 in 52 (44.8%) of breast cancer samples. Moreover, high expression of cytoplasmic and nuclear SOX11 was associated with clinicopathological factors, including earlier tumor grade, absence of lymph node metastasis and smaller tumor size. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated high nuclear SOX11 expression to be associated with more prolonged overall survival than those with low expression and it could be an independent predictor of survival for breast cancer patients. It is worthwhile to note that cytoplasmic SOX11 was not correlated with prognosis of breast cancer patients. These data suggest the possibility that nuclear SOX11 could be as a potential target for breast cancer therapy.

Compressive Behavior of Damaged Tubular T-joints Retrofitted with Collar Plate

Peng Deng,Jianxun Guo,Yan Liu,Zhongying Wang 대한토목학회 2019 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.23 No.9

The static bearing capacity and failure modes of damaged tubular T-joints retrofitted with collar plates under axial compression were investigated. Two-step loading was applied: First, the chord deformation was loaded to the pre-designed degree, followed by unloading and collar plate installation. Subsequently, the specimens were reloaded. The maximum capacity and corresponding displacement (Δ1,m) were determined, and the ratio of the chord deformation of the other joints to Δ1,m was utilized to define the damage degree. The maximum capacity of retrofitted tubular T-joints could be up to 13 – 77% in second step loading, compared with that of unreinforced T-joints; however, the capacity decreased by 2 – 10% compared to that of directly reinforced T-joints. Sixty-nine finite element models were generated. The effects of chord wall thickness, chord diameters and collar plate lengths on the bearing capacity under different damage degrees were analyzed. A satisfactory effect could be obtained by using a suitable size of expanded collar plates under a constant damage degree. Retrofitting with collar plates could mitigate the development of equivalent plastic strain in the joint intersection, even for considerably damaged tubular T-joints. A modified formula considering the damage degree was proposed for bearing capacity prediction of retrofitted tubular T-joints.