Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha-induced Protein 8 in Pancreas Tissues and its Correlation with Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor Levels

Liu, Ke,Qin, Cheng-Kun,Wang, Zhi-Yi,Liu, Su-Xia,Cui, Xian-Ping,Zhang, Dong-Yuan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.3

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8 or TIPE) is a recently identified protein considered to be associated with carcinogenesis. To investigate its expression pattern in pancreatic cancer patients and to analyse its correlation with clinicopathological significance and the expression levels of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the TNFAIP8 and EGFR proteins in pancreatic cancers, pancreatitis tissues, and healthy controls. The results showed stronger staining of TNFAIP8 protein in pancreatic cancer tissues compared with normal pancreas tissue. Furthermore, in 56 patients with pancreatic cancer, the expression levels of TNFAIP8 in patients with low tumor stage was higher than that with high tumor stage, and correlated with tumor staging and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Furthermore, TNFAIP8 expression positively correlated with EGFR levels (r=0.671135, P<0.05). These results indicate that TNFAIP8 may play important roles in the progression of pancreatic cancer.

Predictive Value of Exercise Blood Pressure Changes for Orthostatic Hypotension in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease

Yi Qin,Zhao-hui Jin,Zhen-ying Zhang,Ke-ke Chen,Xin Yu,Hong-jiao Yan,Rui-dan Wang,Yuan Su,Ai-xian Liu,Jia-ning Xi,Bo-yan Fang 대한신경과학회 2023 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.19 No.1

Background and Purpose Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is common in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Early recognition OH is required with sensitive assessments. The purpose of this study was to determine whether blood pressure (BP) changes during exercise can predict the occurrence of OH in PD. Methods This prospective cohort study included 80 consecutive patients with PD. All patients agreed to participate in a baseline evaluation and cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). According to the initial active standing test (AST), those without OH (PD-nonOH) at baseline had their AST results followed up for 6 months. The main outcome was defined as whether patients without OH at baseline would develop OH after 6 months. Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the relevant variables. A nomogram was constructed based on clinical features and identified variables. The concordance index (C-index) and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the accuracy and predictive ability of the nomogram, respectively. Results CPET results indicated that peak load, peak heart rate, heart rate recovery at 1 min, and systolic BP change (ΔSBP) were lower in those with OH than in the PD-nonOH group (p<0.05) at baseline. Logistic regression analysis indicated that peak load and ΔSBP during CPET had significant effects on OH (p<0.05). Age, sex, peak load, and ΔSBP were used to construct the nomogram model (C-index=0.761). The prediction model had an AUC of 0.782 (95% confidence interval=0.649–0.889) and a specificity and sensitivity of 70.0% and 81.8%, respectively. Conclusions This study has identified predictive factors for OH development in patients with PD. CPET could be used as a complementary examination to identify patients at a high risk of OH.

Effects of Variants in Proopiomelanocortin and Neuropeptide Y Genes on Growth, Carcass, and Meat Quality Traits in Rabbits

Liu, Wen-Chao,Chen, Shi-Yi,Jia, Xian-Bo,Wang, Jie,Lai, Song-Jia Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.5

Appetite-related neuropeptides proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and Neuropeptide Y (NPY) are essential for regulating feeding behavior and energy homeostasis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of variants in POMC and NPY genes on growth, carcass and meat quality traits in rabbits. A total of six SNPs were identified for POMC (n = 2) and NPY (n = 4) genes by direct sequencing. Three SNPs were subsequently genotyped by using MassArray system (Sequenom iPLEXassay) in 235 individuals, which belong to three meat rabbit breeds, including 93 Ira rabbits; 81 Champagne rabbits and 61 Tianfu black rabbits. The SNP c.112-12G>T was in intron-exon boundaries (intron 1) of POMC gene, and the association analysis showed that individuals with TT genotype had a greater 84 d body weight (BW84), eviscerated weight and semi-eviscerated weight than those with GT genotype (p<0.05); the TT individuals were also higher than those GG in the ripe meat ratio (RMR) (p<0.05). The g.1778G>C SNP, which was in complete linkage with other three SNPs (g.1491G>A, g.1525G>T and g.1530C>T) in intron 1 of NPY gene, was significantly correlated with eviscerated slaughter percentage and semi-eviscerated slaughter percentage in rabbits, and the individuals with CC genotype had a better performance than CG genotype (p<0.05). These findings would provide primary clues for the biological roles of POMC and NPY underlying the rabbit growth-related traits.

Double Closed-loop Integral Terminal Sliding Mode for a Class of Underactuated Systems Based on Sliding Mode Observer

Wei Liu,Si-yi Chen,Hui-xian Huang 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2020 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.18 No.2

Aiming to solve the tracking control problem of a class of second-order underactuated mechanical systems with unknown model parts, external disturbances and noise disturbances, a double closed-loop layered integral terminal sliding mode control method based on sliding mode observer is proposed. At the outset, the Lagrange model of the system is transformed into an affine model, and a sliding mode observer is designed according to the system structure. Neatly, the outer loop controller is designed using the observer’s estimated state, and the output value of the outer loop controller is filtered with a low pass filter. Then the inner loop controller is designed by using hierarchical sliding mode control method. On a premise of ensuring tracking performance, the control method can maximally improve convergence speed and reduce chattering even if there are unknown model parts, external interference and noise interference phenomena in the system. This simulation results distinctly display the effectiveness of the control tactics.

Genetic Variations in the HIF1A Gene Modulate Response to Adjuvant Chemotherapy after Surgery in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Zhang, Yi,Wang, Peng,Zhou, Xing-Chun,Bao, Guo-Qiang,Lyu, Zhuo-Ming,Liu, Xiao-Nan,Wan, Shao-Gui,He, Xian-Li,Huang, Qi-Chao Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.11

Background: Hypoxia-inducible factor $1{\alpha}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) plays an important role in regulating cell survival and angiogenesis, which are critical for tumor growth and metastasis. Genetic variations of HIF1A have been shown to influence the susceptibility to many kinds of human tumors. Increased expression of HIF-$1{\alpha}$ has also been demonstrated to be involved in tumor progression. However, the prognostic value of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) inthe HIF1A gene remains to be determined in most cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, we sought to investigate the predictive role of HIF1A SNPs in prognosis of CRC patients and efficacy of chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: We genotyped two functional SNPs in HIF1A gene using the Sequenom iPLEX genotyping system and then assessed their associations with clinicopathological parameters and clinical outcomes of 697 CRC patients receiving radical surgery using Cox logistic regression model and Kaplan Meier curves. Results: Generally, no significant association was found between these 2 SNPs and clinical outcomes of CRC. In stratified analysis of subgroup without adjuvant chemotherapy, patients carrying CT/TT genotypes of rs2057482 exhibited a borderline significant association with better overall survival when compared with those carrying CC genotype [Hazard ratio (HR), 0.47; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.29-0.76; P < 0.01]. Moreover, significant protective effects on CRC outcomes conferred by adjuvant chemotherapy were exclusively observed in patients carrying CC genotype of rs2057482 and in those carrying AC/CC genotype of rs2301113. Conclusions: Genetic variations in HIF1A gene may modulate the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery in CRC patients.

Airfoil optimization based on multi-objective bayesian

Ruo-Lin Liu,Qiang Zhao,Xian-Jun He,Xin-Yi Yuan,Wei-Tao Wu,Ming-Yu Wu 대한기계학회 2022 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.36 No.11

This paper proposes a novel aerodynamic optimization framework for airfoils, which utilizes OpenFOAM, an open-source computational fluid dynamics software, and a Bayesian network to achieve efficient optimization of airfoil aerodynamic performance. Aerodynamic analysis of the NACA 4-digit airfoil was performed by adopting the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model to solve the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. With the use of this framework, the optimal lift-to-drag ratio can be found by using a small number of objective evaluations. The optimal angle of attack and aerodynamic shape can be obtained under different thicknesses. Finally, after various aerodynamic objectives are arranged and combined, the Pareto fronts were obtained by the multi-objective Bayesian algorithm. Compared with the original NACA four-digit airfoil, the lift-to-drag ratio of the airfoil after single-objective optimization is greatly improved as the thickness increases, and the airfoil after multi-objective optimization achieves different Pareto sets according to different sailing phases.

X-Ray Repair Cross-Complementing Group 1(XRCC1) Genetic Polymorphisms and Thyroid Carcinoma Risk: a Meta-Analysis

Qian, Ke,Liu, Kui-Jie,Xu, Feng,Chen, Xian-Yu,Chen, Gan-Nong,Yi, Wen-Jun,Zhou, En-Xiang,Tang, Zhong-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

A number of studies have been conducted to explore the association of XRCC1 polymorphisms with thyroid cancer risk, but the results have been inconsistent. Thus we performed the present meta-analysis to clarify this issue based on all of the evidence available to date. Relevant studies were retrieved by searching PubMed and statistical analysis conducted using Stata software. Nine studies were included in this meta-analysis (1,620 cases and 3,557 controls). There were 6 studies (932 cases and 2,270 controls) of the Arg194Trp polymorphism, 7 studies (1432 cases and 3356 controls) of the Arg280His polymorphism and 9 studies (1,620 cases and 3,557 controls) for the Arg399Gln polymorphism. No association of XRCC1 Arg194Trp, Arg280His and Arg399Gln polymorphism with thyroid cancer risk was observed in the overall analysis. However, subgroup analysis revealed: 1) an elevated risk in aa vs AA analysis (OR=2.03, 95%CI= 1.24-3.31) and recessive genetic model analysis (OR=1.93, 95%CI= 1.20-3.08) in the larger sample size trials for XRCC1 Arg194Trp polymorphism; 2) a decreased thyroid cancer risk on subgroup analysis based on ethnicity in Aa vs AA analysis (OR=0.84, 95%CI= 0.72-0.98) and in a dominant genetic model (OR=0.84, 95%CI= 0.72-0.97) in Caucasian populations for the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism; 3) a decreased thyroid cancer risk on subgroup analysis based on design type in Aa vs AA analysis (OR=0.72, 95% CI= 0.54-0.97) among the PCC trials for the Arg399Gln polymorphism. Our results suggest that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism may be associated with decreased thyroid cancer risk among Caucasians and XRCC1 Arg194Trp may be associated with a tendency for increased thyroid cancer risk in the two larger sample size trials.

Injectable PTHF-based thermogelling polyurethane implants for long-term intraocular application

Kaiwen Zhang,Zengping Liu,Qianyu Lin,Yi Jian Boo,Valerie Ow,Xinxin Zhao,Daniel Soo Lin Wong,Jason Y. C. Lim,Kun Xue,Xinyi Su,Decheng Wu,Xian Jun Loh 한국생체재료학회 2022 생체재료학회지 Vol.26 No.4

Background: Hydrogels show great potential to be used for intraocular applications due to their high-water content and similarity to the native vitreous. Injectable thermosensitive hydrogels through a small-bore needle can be used as a delivery system for drugs or a tamponading substitute to treat posterior eye diseases with clear clinical potential. However, none of the currently available thermosensitive hydrogels can provide intraocular support for up to 3 months or more. Method: In this study, an injectable polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF)-based thermosensitive hydrogel was synthesized by polyurethane reaction. We examined the injectability, rheological properties, microstructure, cytotoxicity, and in vivo compatibility and stability of the hydrogels in rabbit eyes. Results: We found that the PTHF block type and PTHF component ratio could modulate thermogelation properties of the polyurethane polymers. The PTHF-based hydrogel implants retained normal retinal structure and function. Incorporating bioinert PTHF generated highly biocompatible and more stable thermogels in the vitreous cavity, with gel networks and the presence of polymer still observed after 3 months when other thermogels would have been completely cleared. Moreover, despite lacking hydrolytically cleavable linkages, the polymers could be most naturally removed from the native vitreous by bio-erosion without additional surgical interventions. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the potential of incorporating hydrophobic bioinert blocks to enhance the in vivo stability of supramolecularly associated hydrogels for long-term intraocular applications.

The ERCC1 C118T Polymorphism Predicts Clinical Outcomes of Colorectal Cancer Patients Receiving Oxaliplatin-Based Chemotherapy: a Meta-analysis Based on 22 Studies

Qian, Ying-Ying,Liu, Xin-You,Wu, Qian,Song, Xian,Chen, Xiao-Feng,Liu, Yi-Qian,Pei, Dong,Shen, Li-Zong,Shu, Yong-Qian Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.19

Background: Although the predictive value of the excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) C118T polymorphism in clinical outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy has been evaluated in numerous published studies, the conclusions are conflicting. Therefore, we performed the present meta-analysis to determine the precise role of the ERCC1 C118T polymorphism in this clinical situation and help optimize individual chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: A multiple search strategy was used to identify eligible studies. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate objective response and oxaliplatin-induced toxicity, with hazard ratios (HRs) with 95%CIs for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: A total of 22 studies including 2,846 CRC patients were eligible in the analysis. Overall, no significant correlation was found between the ERCC1 C118T polymorphism and objective response to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, in all patients or in the Asian and Caucasian subgroups. However, the pooled analysis showed that the PFS and OS were significantly shorter in patients who carried T/T or T/C genotypes of ERCC1 C118T as compared to the C/C genotype. On stratified analysis by ethnicity, the ERCC1 118T allele was associated with a favorable prognosis in Caucasians (PFS, HR=0.58, 95%CI: 0.24-1.44; OS, HR=0.38, 95%CI: 0.22-0.64) but an unfavorable prognosis in Asians (PFS, HR=2.49, 95%CI: 1.87-3.33; OS, HR=2.63, 95%CI: 1.87-3.69) based on a dominant model. In addition, we failed to find a statistically significant impact of ERCC1 C118T polymorphism on oxaliplatin-induced toxicity. Conclusions: The ERCC1 C118T polymorphism may have prognostic value in patients with CRC undergoing oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.

Cues of intraguild predators (Harmonia axyridis) and different temperatures alter foraging and oviposition strategies of the parasitoid Aphidius gifuensis

Yu Xing-Lin,Feng Yi,Liu Tong-Xian,Qiu Bao-Li 한국응용곤충학회 2023 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.26 No.2

Organisms live in complex systems where they simultaneously balance responses to multiple factors. Insects are dealing with indirect pressures from predators under the influence of temperature. Currently, little is known about how they balance these factors. Under laboratory conditions, we investigated the effects of the predator Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) cues and temperature (23, 28, and 33 ◦ C) on the foraging and oviposition behavior of the parasitoid Aphidius gifuensis Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) using the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as a host. In all trials, the frequency and duration of stinging, walking, or stationary behavior of A. gifuensis were not influenced by H. axyridis cues. However, in trials with predator cues, A. gifuensis produced less offspring than trials without predator cues. On the other hand, the frequency of A. gifuensis stinging, walking, or stationary behavior, and the number of A. gifuensis larvae increased with rising temperature. Specially, when the predator cues were present, parasitoid responded to rising tem peratures by increasing frequency of each behavior and an increase in offspring number. Our findings indicate that A. gifuensis might show flexible foraging and oviposition behavior in response to H. axyridis associated cues and different temperatures. Thus, the effects of both temperature and H. axyridis cues should be considered when assessing the foraging outcomes of A. gifuensis prior to combining these two enemies in aphid management practice.