Association of Visit-to-Visit Variability of Blood Pressure with Cardiovascular Disease among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Cohort Study

Zhe-Bin Yu,Die Li,Xue-Yu Chen,Pei-Wen Zheng,Hong-Bo Lin,Meng-Ling Tang,Ming-Juan Jin,Jian-Bing Wang,Kun Chen 대한당뇨병학회 2019 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.43 No.3

Background: Increasing evidence has shown that visit-to-visit variability (VVV) of blood pressure (BP) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of VVV of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) on the risk of CVD among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in China. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 10,163 T2DM patients who were not previously diagnosed with CVD from January 2008 to December 2012 in Ningbo, China. The VVV of BP was calculated using five metrics, including standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV), variation independent of mean, average real variability, and successive variability (SV) of measurements, obtained over a 24-month measurement period. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression models for the associations of variability in BP with risk of CVD. Results: A total of 894 CVD events were observed during a median follow-up of 49.5 months. The hazard ratio in the highest quintile of SD of SBP was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.01 to 1.52) compared with patients in the lowest quintile. The association between higher VVV of DBP and risk of CVD was not consistent across different metrics and sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: Higher VVV of SBP was associated with an increased risk of CVD, irrespective of the mean SBP level. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Photoreactions of substituted o-cresyl acylates in cyclohexane and in polyethylene films. The influences of intra- and inter-molecular 'rowding' effects

Chen, Yu-Zhe,Weiss, Richard G. Korean Society of Photoscience 2009 Photochemical & photobiological sciences Vol.8 No.7

Photo-Fries rearrangements and associated photoreactions of four o-cresyl acylates were investigated in cyclohexane and in unstretched and stretched polyethylene (PE) films with different degrees of crystallinity. The esters differ in the number of phenyl substituents attached to the methyl group of the cresyl part and the length of the acyl chain. The influences of intramolecular structural factors and intermolecular environmental effects on the fates of the excited singlet states and the singlet state aryloxy/acyl radical pairs generated subsequently from them are explored. The results indicate that there are definable limits to the selectivity of the photoreactions of aryl esters that are dependent on their shapes and the ability of their environments to interact with them. Quantum yields for the reactions of the o-cresyl acylates were measured in cyclohexane and their values can be understood on the bases of a combination of conformational and electronic factors. The PE cavities holding the less globularly shaped o-cresyl acylates act as templates for the formation of the photoproducts: the ratios of the 2- and 4-position photo-Fries rearrangement products from o-cresyl acetate and 2-benzylphenyl acetate are higher when irradiated in films that are stretched or have higher film crystallinity; control by the PE cavities over the fates of the radical pairs is diminished for the o-cresyl acylate with two phenyl groups appended to the methyl of the cresyl part. The cavities of the PE films exert an interesting influence on the ability of the excited singlet states to undergo concerted decarboxylation reactions as well.

Research and Application of Network Router Link Prediction Method

CHEN Yu,DUAN Zhe-Min 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Hybrid Information Techno Vol.9 No.2

Multiple Autonomous systems (ASes) of the network are usually consisted of many routers such as inter-router and intra-router connection each other. In order to detect the network routers connection relationship, many researchers at home or abroad use various methods such as active end-to-end links detection or observing SNMP MIBs to understand the links’ connection relationship among the routers in network’ ASes. In this paper, by using the link prediction algorithm based on the similarity, we tried to predict the links’ connection relationship and got the possible network topology structure among the network’ ASes when the actual connection link don’t be completely detected. Through the experiments, the prediction results can be seen that the similarity algorithm index of ACT, SRW, and SimRank based on the random walk can also achieve better prediction accuracy above 0.95, which prove the similarity index especially the random walk algorithm can realize the higher link prediction accuracy to the network’ ASes under the conditions of missing some known connection link, etc.

Combined fine-needle aspiration with core needle biopsy for assessing thyroid nodules: a more valuable diagnostic method?

Zhe Chen,Jia-jia Wang,Dong-ming Guo,Yu-xia Zhai,Zhuo-zhi Dai,Hong-hui Su 대한초음파의학회 2023 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.42 No.2

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of combined fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with core needle biopsy (CNB) in thyroid nodules. Methods: FNA and CNB were performed simultaneously on 703 nodules. We compared the proportions of inconclusive results and the diagnostic performance for malignancy among FNA, CNB, and combined FNA/CNB for different nodule sizes. Results: Combined FNA/CNB showed lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB for all nodules (2.8% vs. 5.7%, P<0.001), nodules ≤1.0 cm (4.9% vs. 7.3%, P=0.063), nodules >1.0 cm (2.0% vs. 5.0 %, P<0.001), nodules ≤1.5 cm (3.8% vs. 7.9 %, P<0.001), and nodules >1.5 cm (2.1% vs. 3.9 %, P=0.016). The sensitivity of combined FNA/CNB in predicting malignancy was significantly higher than that of CNB (89.0% vs. 80.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (89.0% vs. 58.1%, P<0.001) for all nodules. Within American College of Radiology Thyroid and Imaging Reporting and Data System grades 4-5, in the subgroup of nodules ≤1.5 cm, combined FNA/ CNB showed the best sensitivity in predicting malignancy (91.4%), significantly higher than that of CNB (81.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (57.8%, P<0.001). However, in the subgroup of nodules >1.5 cm, the difference between combined FNA/CNB and CNB was not significant (84.2% vs. 78.9%, P=0.500). Conclusion: Regardless of nodule size, combined FNA/CNB tended to yield lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB or FNA alone and exhibited higher performance in diagnosing malignancy. The combined FNA/CNB technique may be a more valuable diagnostic method for nodules ≤1.5 cm and nodules with a risk of malignancy than CNB and FNA alone.

Study on the Effects of Pedestrians on the Aerostatic Response of a Long-Span Pedestrian Suspension Bridge

Yu Li,Zhe Chen,Shi-Jie Dong,Jia-Wu Li 대한토목학회 2021 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.25 No.10

According to a long-span pedestrian suspension bridge, the sectional models of the human-footbridge system were proposed, and then the force measurement tests were performed to study the effects of the pedestrian density (ρ), pedestrian permutation, and wind attack angle (α) on the drag force coefficient (CH), lift force coefficient (CV), and pitching moment coefficient (CM), respectively. So, it is found that: (1) with the increase of ρ, both CH and CV with α < -2o increase, while both CV with α ≥ -2o and CM with ρ ≠ 0.0 P/m2 decrease. (2) when ρ> 0.2 P/m2, there is a significant effect of the pedestrian permutations on CH and CM, while the effect of the pedestrian permutations on CV is small. Then, the static wind forces were calculated and applied to the pedestrian suspension bridge, and the effects of ρ and pedestrian permutations on the aerostatic response were studied. So, it is found that: 1) with the increase of ρ, the aerostatic response increases; 2) the effects of the pedestrian permutations with ρ ≤ 0.5 P/m2 on the aerostatic response can be ignored, while there are disadvantageous effects of the pedestrian permutations with ρ > 0.5 P/m2 and larger wind-blocking area on the aerostatic response.

Saponins from Rubus parvifolius L. Induce Apoptosis in Human Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells through AMPK Activation and STAT3 Inhibition

Ge, Yu-Qing,Xu, Xiao-Feng,Yang, Bo,Chen, Zhe,Cheng, Ru-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Background: Saponins are a major active component for the traditional Chinese medicine, Rubus parvifolius L., which has shown clear antitumor activities. However, the specific effects and mechanisms of saponins of Rubus parvifolius L. (SRP) remain unclear with regard to human chronic myeloid leukemia cells. The aim of this study was to investigate inhibition of proliferation and apoptosis induction effects of SRP in K562 cells and further elucidate its regulatory mechanisms. Materials and Methods: K562 cells were treated with different concentrations of SRP and MTT assays were performed to determine cell viability. Apoptosis induction by SRP was determined with FACS and DAPI staining analysis. Western blotting was used to detect expression of apoptosis and survival related genes. Specific inhibitors were added to confirm roles of STAT3 and AMPK pathways in SRP induction of apoptosis. Results: Our results indicated that SRP exhibited obvious inhibitory effects on the growth of K562 cells, and significantly induced apoptosis. Cleavage of pro-apoptotic proteins was dramatically increased after SRP exposure. SRP treatment also increased the activities of AMPK and JNK pathways, and inhibited the phosphorylation expression level of STAT3 in K562 cells. Inhibition of the AMPK pathway blocked the activation of JNK by SRP, indicating that SRP regulated the expression of JNK dependent oon the AMPK pathway. Furthermore, inhibition of the latter significantly conferred resistance to SRP pro-apoptotic activity, suggesting involvement of the AMPK pathway in induction of apoptosis. Pretreatment with a STAT3 inhibitor also augmented SRP induced growth inhibition and cell apoptosis, further confirming roles of the STAT3 pathway after SRP treatment. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that SRP induce cell apoptosis through AMPK activation and STAT3 inhibition in K562 cells. This suggests the possibility of further developing SRP as an alternative treatment option, or perhaps using it as adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent for chronic myeloid leukemia therapy.

Prolyl endopeptidase remodels macrophage function as a novel transcriptional coregulator and inhibits fibrosis

Lin Shuang-Zhe,Wu Wei-Jie,Cheng Yu-Qing,Zhang Jian-Bin,Jiang Dai-Xi,Ren Tian-Yi,Ding Wen-Jin,Liu Mingxi,Chen Yuan-Wen,Fan Jian-Gao 생화학분자생물학회 2023 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.55 No.-

Macrophages are immune cells crucial for host defense and homeostasis maintenance, and their dysregulation is involved in multiple pathological conditions, such as liver fibrosis. The transcriptional regulation in macrophage is indispensable for fine-tuning of macrophage functions, but the details have not been fully elucidated. Prolyl endopeptidase (PREP) is a dipeptidyl peptidase with both proteolytic and non-proteolytic functions. In this study, we found that Prep knockout significantly contributed to transcriptomic alterations in quiescent and M1/M2-polarized bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), as well as aggravated fibrosis in an experimental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model. Mechanistically, PREP predominantly localized to the macrophage nuclei and functioned as a transcriptional coregulator. Using CUT&Tag and co-immunoprecipitation, we found that PREP was mainly distributed in active cis-regulatory genomic regions and physically interacted with the transcription factor PU.1. Among PREP-regulated downstream genes, genes encoding profibrotic cathepsin B and D were overexpressed in BMDMs and fibrotic liver tissue. Our results indicate that PREP in macrophages functions as a transcriptional coregulator that finely tunes macrophage functions, and plays a protective role against liver fibrosis pathogenesis.

Surgical Management for Giant Liver Hemangiomas Greater Than 20 cm in Size

( Hui Jiang ),( Zhe Yu Chen ),( Pankaj Prasoon ),( Hong Wu ),( Yong Zeng ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2011 Gut and Liver Vol.5 No.2

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the primary management experience for giant liver hemangiomas greater than 20 cm in size. Methods: Records of patients referred for evaluation of radiologically and/or histopathologically proven giant liver hemangiomas between January 2007 and March 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The reasons for referral, results of imaging studies, preoperative and surgical treatments, and outcome were reviewed. Results: A retrospective analysis was performed for 14 patients diagnosed with a giant hemangioma on the basis of an imaging study and/or a histopathological examination. All cases were diagnosed as giant liver hemangioma with at least one lesion greater than 20 cm in size. Abdominal discomfort was the main presenting complaint for the referral in 9 patients (64.2%). Abdominal ultrasound established the diagnosis in 12 patients (85.7%). Twelve patients underwent liver resection, 2 of whom underwent staged resection. Enucleation was performed in 2 patients. Selective transcatheter arterial embolization was implemented in 9 patients. Postoperative morbidity occurred in 3 patients (21.4%). No complications related to the hemangiomas occurred during follow up. Conclusions: Liver resection is indicated for giant liver hemangiomas with abdominal discomfort, especially for lesions greater than 20 cm in size. Staged operations are performed for patients with multiple lesions. Preoperative selective transcatheter arterial embolization alleviates progressive abdominal pain. (Gut Liver 2011;5:228-233)

Plant regeneration via callus-mediated organogenesis in commercial variety of Chuanbeichai No. 1 in Bupleurum chinense DC

Li Yuchan,Zhao Jun,Chen Hua,Yu Xia,Li Hui,Zhang Yu,Feng Liang,Wu Zhe,Xie Wenlin,Hou Dabin,Yu Ma 한국식물생명공학회 2023 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.17 No.2

Bupleurum chinense DC is an important medicinal plant with many active ingredients that are used for the treatment of different types of diseases and valued in pharmaceutical markets. In vitro shoot regeneration can efficiently contribute to the improvement of B. chinense. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the explant type and plant growth regulators (PGRs) on embryogenic callus induction and plant regeneration in B. chinense. Our investigation demonstrated that 2 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) combined with 1 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ) played a major role in promoting callus induction from leaf, hypocotyl and stem 2 explants, whereas the most effective treatment for stem 1 callus formation was Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.5 mg/L kinetin (Kin). The highest shoot regeneration rate (57.14%) was obtained from hypocotyl-induced calli in MS medium with 0.5 mg/L Kin after 12 weeks of cultivation. This regeneration protocol can be used in large-scale cultivation and may be useful for future genetic modifications of B. chinense.

Removal of elemental mercury from simulated flue gas by cerium oxide modified attapulgite

Donglei Shi,Qi Xu,Yu Lu,Zhe Tang,Fennv Han,Ruo-Yu Chen 한국화학공학회 2014 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.31 No.8

A novel catalyst CeO2/ATP was developed to remove Hg0 from coal fired gas. This is new way to use thefacile, cheap and larger BET specific surface area catalyst attapulgite (ATP) as support to remove Hg0 from coal firedgas. The Hg0 removal and oxidation efficiency of CeO2/ATP (1 : 1) is up to 97.75% and 92.23% at 200 oC, respectively. We also found that ATP plays an important role in improving the catalyst activity of CeO2/ATP, which can make CeO2/ATP have more stable catalyst activity at broader temperature range and obtain lower optimum activity temperature. Other influencing factors, such as temperature and flue gas environment (SO2, Cl2, NO), are also investigated in order toget a clear understanding of the experiment. The formation mechanisms are also proposed.