Gallbladder Tuberculosis: CT Findings with Histopathologic Correlation

Xiu-Fang Xu,Ri-Sheng Yu,Ling-Ling Qiu,Jian Shen,Fei Dong,Ying Chen 대한영상의학회 2011 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.12 No.2

Objective: We wanted to describe the computed tomography (CT) fi ndings of gallbladder tuberculosis (TB) and to correlate them with pathologic fi ndings. Materials and Methods: There were seven patients (M:F = 3:4; mean age, 46.3 years; age range, 32 to 78 years) in whom gallbladder TB was eventually diagnosed. All of them underwent cross-sectional imaging with CT, a pathologic examination and a retrospective review. CT imaging evaluation was done in each case, including the fi ndings of a mass versus nodule, wall thickening (uniform or irregular) and the enhancement patterns (homogeneous or heterogeneous). Results: All the cases of gallbladder TB revealed the following three different CT fi ndings: micronodular lesion of the gallbladder wall (n = 1), a thickened wall (n = 4) and a gallbladder mass (n = 2). There were three cases of homogeneous enhancement of the lesions, including homogeneous enhancement with nodular lesion, homogeneous uniform thickness enhancement and homogeneous thickness enhancement in one case each, and these cases pathology showed tuberculous granuloma with a little caseating necrosis in one case and tuberculous granuloma with rich fi brous tissue, but little or no evident caseating necrosis in two cases. Four cases of heterogeneous enhancement of the lesions, including heterogeneous uniform-thickness enhancement in two cases, heterogeneous enhancement with a local mass lesion in one case and heterogeneous enhancement with a mass that replaced the gallbladder in one case; in these cases, pathology showed tuberculous granuloma with marked caseation or liquefaction necrosis in three cases and tuberculous granuloma by fi brous and calcifi cations accompanied by caseating necrosis in one case. Among the seven cases of gallbladder TB, six cases were accompanied by abdominal extra-gallbladder TB, including abdominal lymph node TB in fi ve cases and hepatic TB in four cases. Conclusion: Gallbladder TB has various CT manifestations, and the enhanced CT findings are well matched with pathological features. An irregularly thickened gallbladder wall or a gallbladder wall mass with multiple-focus necrosis or calcifi cations accompanied by the typical CT fi ndings of abdominal extra-gallbladder TB should suggest the diagnosis of gallbladder TB.

Finite Element Analysis and Test Study on Restraint of High-energy Pipe Whip in Conventional Island

Ling-yun Peng,Yu-ke Deng,Hua-ting Chen,Ying-jie Kang,Xiang-xiu Li 대한토목학회 2019 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.23 No.4

The effects of high-energy pipe whipping after rupturing are very important in an AP1000 nuclear power plant's conventional island and restraints of pipe whipping should be considered in the design. It is the first time in the country when reinforced concrete shear walls are used as restraint services. In this paper, the behaviors of walls and restraint services subjected to pipe whipping are analyzed through static and dynamic methods in the finite element software (ABAQUS), in which all kinds of nonlinearities are considered. In addition, a test study on the restraint of pipe whipping is conducted. The results show that the wall and the restraint service can prevent pipe whipping effectively under the design load, and anchor plates arranged around the wall opening can improve the local concrete compression performance of concrete to reduce the damage of concrete. Meanwhile, the study also provides the valuable reference for wall designing to prevent from pipe whipping.

Upregulation of STK15 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinomas in a Mongolian Population

Chen, Guang-Lie,Hou, Gai-Ling,Sun, Fei,Jiang, Hong-Li,Xue, Jin-Feng,Li, Xiu-Shen,Xu, En-Hui,Gao, Wei-Shi,Cao, Jian-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Background: The STK15 gene located on chromosome 20q13.2 encodes a centrosome-associated kinase critical for regulated chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. Recent studies have demonstrated STK15 to be significantly associated with many tumors, with aberrant expression obseved in many human malignancies. The purpose of this study was to investigate expression of STK15 in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) in a Mongolian population. Methods: Two non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding region of STK15, rs2273535 (Phe31Ile) and rs1047972 (Val57Ile) were assessed in 380 ESCC patients and 380 healthy controls. We also detected STK15 mRNA expression in 39 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and corresponding adjacent tissues by real time PCR. Results: rs2273535 showed a significant association with ESCC in our Mongolian population (rs227353, P allele = 0.0447, OR (95%CI) = 1.259 (1.005~1.578)). Real time PCR analysis of ESCC tissues showed that expression of STK15 mRNA in cancer tissues was higher than in normal tissues (p = 0.013). Conclusions: Our study showed that functional SNPs in the STK15 gene are associated with ESCC in a Mongolian population and up-regulation of STK15 mRNAoccurs in ESCC tumors compared adjacent normal tissues. STK15 may thus have an important role in the prognosis of ESCC and be a potential therapeutic target.

Pokemon Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor β-Smad4-Related Cell Proliferation Arrest in Breast Cancer through Specificity Protein 1

Ling Chen,Jing Zhong,Jiang-Hua Liu,Duan-Fang Liao,Ying-Ying Shen,Xiao-Lin Zhong,Xiao Xiao,Wen-Jun Ding,Xiu-Da Peng,Wei Xiong,Xu-Yu Zu 한국유방암학회 2019 Journal of breast cancer Vol.22 No.1

Purpose: Pokemon, also known as ZBTB7A, belongs to the POZ and Krüppel (POK) family of transcription repressors and is implicated in tumor progression as a key proto-oncogene. This present study aimed at determining the mechanism by which Pokemon inhibits transforming growth factor β (TGFβ)-Smad4 pathway-dependent proliferation arrest of breast cancer cells via specificity protein 1 (SP1). Methods: Over-expressing plasmid or small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection was used to regulate Pokemon levels. The EdU incorporation assay, MTS assay, and clone formation were used to identify the inhibitory effect of Pokemon siRNA on cell proliferation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay confirmed that Pokemon deletion inhibited the expression of proliferation-associated genes. The dual-luciferase reporter assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and co-immunoprecipitation assay were used to analyze binding between Pokemon, Smad4, and SP1. Results: Pokemon deletion induced proliferation arrest of breast cancer cells and inhibited the expression of proliferation-associated genes, especially Smad4. Pokemon bound with SP1 to interdict Smad4 promoter activity. Information on clinical samples was obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas data, in which the Pokemon mRNA levels showed a negative correlation with Smad4 levels in different subtypes of breast cancer in two independent datasets. Conclusion: We demonstrated that Pokemon binds to SP1 to down-regulate Smad4 expression, thereby promoting proliferation of breast cancer cells. This suggests that Pokemon is a potential TGFβ-signaling participant in breast cancer progression.

New method for dependence assessment in human reliability analysis based on linguistic hesitant fuzzy information

Zhang, Ling,Zhu, Yu-Jie,Hou, Lin-Xiu,Liu, Hu-Chen Korean Nuclear Society 2021 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.53 No.11

Human reliability analysis (HRA) is a proactive approach to model and evaluate human systematic errors, and has been extensively applied in various complicated systems. Dependence assessment among human errors plays a key role in the HRA, which relies heavily on the knowledge and experience of experts in real-world cases. Moreover, there are ofthen different types of uncertainty when experts use linguistic labels to evaluate the dependencies between human failure events. In this context, this paper aims to develop a new method based on linguistic hesitant fuzzy sets and the technique for human error rate prediction (THERP) technique to manage the dependence in HRA. This method handles the linguistic assessments given by experts according to the linguistic hesitant fuzzy sets, determines the weights of influential factors by an extended best-worst method, and confirms the degree of dependence between successive actions based on the THERP method. Finally, the effectiveness and practicality of the presented linguistic hesitant fuzzy THERP method are demonstrated through an empirical healthcare dependence analysis.

Biocatalysis and Fermentation Technology : Purification and Characterization of a Thermostable Xylanase from Paenibacillus sp. NF1 and its Application in Xylooligosaccharides Production

( Hong Chen Zheng ),( Ming Zhe Sun ),( Ling Cai Meng ),( Hai Sheng Pei ),( Xiu Qing Zhang ),( Zheng Yan ),( Wen Hui Zeng ),( Jing Sheng Zhang ),( Jin Rong Hu ),( Fu Ping Lu ),( Jun She Sun ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.4

High levels of extracellular xylanase activity (211.79 IU/mg) produced by Paenibacillus sp. NF1 were detected when it was submerged-cultured. After three consecutive purification steps using Octyl-Sepharose, Sephadex G75, and Q-Sepharose columns, a thermostable xylanase (XynNF) was purified to homogeneity and showed a molecular mass of 37 kDa according to SDS-PAGE. The specific activity of the purified XynNF was up to 3,081.05 IU/mg with a 14.55-fold purification. The activity of XynNF was stimulated by Ca2+, Ba2+, DTT, and β-mercaptoethanol, but was inhibited by Fe3+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Cu2+, SDS, and EDTA. The purified XynNF displayed a greater affinity for oat spelt xylan with the maximal enzymatic activity at 60°C and pH 6.0. XynNF, which was shown to be cellulose-free, with high stability at high temperature (70°C-80°C) and low pH range (pH 4.0-7.0), is potentially valuable for various industrial applications. The enzyme hydrolyzed oat spelt xylan to yield mainly xylooligosaccharides (95.8%) of 2-4 degree of polymerization (DP2-4). Moreover, the majority of the xylooligosacharides (DP2- 4) products was xylobiose (61.5%). The thermostable xylanase (XynNF) thus seems potentially usefull in the production of xylooligosaccharides.

Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-associated Factor 6 in Lung Cancer Tissues

Zhang, Xiu-Ling,Dang, Yi-Wu,Li, Ping,Rong, Min-Hua,Hou, Xin-Xi,Luo, Dian-Zhong,Chen, Gang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.24

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been reported to be associated with the development of various cancers. However, the role of TRAF6 in lung cancer remains unclear. Objective: To explore the expression and clinicopathological significance of TRAF6 protein in lung cancer tissues. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixty-five lung cancer samples and thirty normal lung tissues were constructed into 3 microarrays. The expression of TRAF6 protein was determined using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Furthermore, correlations between the expression of TRAF6 and clinicopathological parameters were investigated. Results: The expression of TRAF6 in total lung cancer tissues (365 cases), as well as in small cell lung cancer (SCLC, 26 cases) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, 339 cases) was significantly higher compared with that in normal lung tissues. The ROC curve showed that the area under curve of TRAF6 was 0.663 (95%CI 0.570~0.756) for lung cancer. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of TRAF6 were 52.6% and 80%, respectively. In addition, the expression of TRAF6 was correlated with clinical TNM stage, tumor size and lymph node metastasis in all lung cancers. Consistent correlations were also observed for NSCLCs. Conclusions: TRAF6 might be an oncogene and the expression of TRAF6 protein is related to the progression of lung cancer. Thus, TRAF6 might become a target for diagnosis and gene therapy for lung cancer patients.

Identification of a novel circularized transcript of the AML1 gene

Ai Ning Xu,Xiu Hua Chen,Yan Hong Tan,Xi Ling Qi,Zhi Fang Xu,Lin Lin Zhang,Fang Gang Ren,Si Cheng Bian,Yi Chen,Hong Wei Wang 생화학분자생물학회(구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2013 BMB Reports Vol.46 No.3

Development of a position sensitive CsI(Tl) crystal array

Shi, Guo-Zhu,Chen, Ruo-Fu,Chen, Kun,Shen, Ai-Hua,Zhang, Xiu-Ling,Chen, Jin-Da,Du, Cheng-Ming,Hu, Zheng-Guo,Fan, Guang-Wei Korean Nuclear Society 2020 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.52 No.4

A position-sensitive CsI(Tl) crystal array coupled with the multi-anode position sensitive photomultiplier tube (PS-PMT), Hamamatsu H8500C, has been developed at the Institute of Modern Physics. An effective, fast, and economical readout circuit based on discretized positioning circuit (DPC) bridge was designed for the 64-channel multi-anode flat panel PSPMT. The horizontal and vertical position resolutions are 0.58 mm and 0.63 mm respectively for the 1.0 × 1.0 × 5.0 ㎣ CsI(Tl) array, and the horizontal and vertical position resolutions are 0.86 mm and 0.80 mm respectively for the 2.0 × 2.0 × 10.0 ㎣ CsI(Tl) array. These results show that the CsI(Tl) crystal array with low cost could be applied in the fields of medical imaging and high-resolution gamma camera.

Clinical Model for Predicting Hepatocellular Carcinomas in Patients with Post-Sustained Virologic Responses of Chronic Hepatitis C: A Case Control Study

( Qing-lei Zeng ),( Bing Li ),( Xue-xiu Zhang ),( Yan Chen ),( Yan-ling Fu ),( Jun Lv ),( Yan-min Liu ),( Zu-jiang Yu ) 대한소화기학회 2016 Gut and Liver Vol.10 No.6

Background/Aims: No clinical model exists to predict the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in sustained virologic response-achieving (HCC after SVR) patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Methods: We performed a case-control study using a clinical database to research the risk factors for HCC after SVR. A predictive model based on risk factors was established, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated. Results: In the multivariate model, an initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis and post-SVR albumin reductions of 1 g/L were associated with 21.7-fold (95% CI, 4.2 to 112.3; p< 0.001) and 1.3-fold (95% CI, 1.1 to 1.7; p=0.004) increases in the risk of HCC after SVR, respectively. A predictive model based on an initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis (yes, +1; no, 0) and post- SVR albumin ≤36.0 g/L (yes, +1; not, 0) predicted the occurrence of HCC after SVR with a cutoff value of >0, an AUC of 0.880, a sensitivity of 0.833, a specificity of 0.896, and a negative predictive value of 0.956. Conclusions: An initial diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis combined with a post-SVR albumin value of ≤36.0 g/L predicts the occurrence of HCC after SVR in patients with CHC. (Gut Liver 2016;10:955-961)