Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer in Rural Areas of Wuhan China: a Matched Case-control Study

Zhang, Bin,Zhou, Ai-Fen,Zhu, Chang-Cai,Zhang, Ling,Xiang, Bing,Chen, Zhong,Hu, Rong-Hua,Zhang, Ya-Qi,Qiu, Lin,Zhang, Yi-Ming,Xiong, Chao-Du,Du, Yu-Kai,Shi, Yu-Qin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem in developing countries. We investigated possible risk factors for cervical cancer in rural areas of Wuhan China using a matched case-control study with 33 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and 132 healthy women selected from the same area as matched controls. A questionnaire, which included questions about general demography conditions, environmental and genetic factors, the first sexual intercourse, first marriage age, age at first pregnancy, pregnancy first child's age, female personal health history, social psychological factors, dietary habits, smoking and alcohol status and other living habits was presented to all participants. At the same time, HPV infection of every participant was examined in laboratory testing. Results showed HPV infection (P<0.000, OR=23.4) and pregnancy first child's age (P<0.000, OR=13.1) to be risk factors for cervical cancer. Menopause (P=0.003, OR=0.073) was a protective factor against cervical cancer. However, there was no indication of associations of environmental (drinking water, insecticide, disinfectant) genetic (cancer family history), or life-style factors (smoking status, alcohol status, physical training, sleep quality), including dietary habits (intake of fruit and vegetable, meat, fried food, bean products and pickled food) or social psychological factors with cervical cancer. The results suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in Chinese rural women may be associated with HPV infection, menopause and the pregnancy first child's age.

Association of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A_2 with Characteristics of Vulnerable Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaques

Yu-Sheng Liu,Qing-Hua Lu,Xiao-Bo Hu,Hong-Zhuan Li,Wei-Dong Jiang,Xin Wang,Hao Lin,Ai-Qiong Qin,Yong-Mei Wang,Tong Zhao,Zhao-Qiang Dong,Mei Zhang 연세대학교의과대학 2011 Yonsei medical journal Vol.52 No.6

Purpose: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA_2) is an inflammatory enzyme expressed in atherosclerotic plaques. We investigated the association of circulating Lp-PLA_2 with characteristics of vulnerable coronary atherosclerotic plaques. Materials and Methods: We recruited 113 patients with either unstable angina (UA, n=59) and stable angina (SA, n=54) by coronary angiography. Thirty-six healthy subjects served as controls. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was used to evaluate the characteristics of coronary atherosclerotic plaque, and serum Lp-PLA2 concentration was measured as well. Results: Lp-PLA_2 concentration was significantly higher in both UA and SA patients [(396±36) μg/L and (321±39) μg/L, respectively]compared with the controls [(127±49) μg/L, p<0.01], and higher in UA than SA group. IVUS findings showed that remodeling index (RI) (0.91±0.15 vs. 0.85±0.11, p=0.005) and eccentricity index (EI) (0.73±0.16 vs. 0.65±0.22, p=0.039) were larger in UA than in SA group, and fibrous caps were thicker in SA than UA group [(0.91±0.23) mm vs. (0.63±0.21) mm, p=0.032]. Moreover, Lp-PLA_2 correlated positively with EI (r=0.439, p<0.01) and RI (r=0.592, p<0.05) in UA group. There was an inverse relationship between Lp-PLA_2 and fibrous cap thickness in both UA (r=-0.587, p<0.001) and SA (r=-0.318, p<0.05) groups. The independent risk factors in UA group were Lp-PLA_2 (OR=1.055, 95% CI: 1.03-1.08, p=0.013), LDL-cholesterol (OR=0.032, 95% CI: 0.00-0.05, p=0.041) and fibrous cap thickness (OR=0.008, 95% CI: 0.00-0.45, p=0.019). Lp-PLA_2 was strongly associated with both EI and fibrous cap thickness in both groups. Conclusion: Serum level of Lp-PLA_2 is associated with both eccentricity index and fibrous cap thickness in both UA and SA groups. Elevated levels of circulating Lp-PLA_2 might to be a strong risk factor and more serious for unstable angina than stable angina.

Event-triggered Pinning Bipartite Tracking Consensus of the Multi-agent System Subject to Input Saturation

Hai-Yun Gao,Ai-Hua Hu 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2020 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.18 No.9

This paper focuses on the bipartite tracking consensus problem of the multi-agent system with cooperative-competitive interactions. In order to save resources, an event-triggered pinning scheme subjected to input saturation is designed. Suppose that the signed graph representing cooperative-competitive interactions is structurally balanced, and the initial states for the agents belong to the specified ellipsoid. By using Lyapunov theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) techniques, some sufficient conditions are derived to ensure that the bipartite tracking consensus of the system under event-triggered pinning control can be achieved. Moreover, the bipartite tracking consensus of system with Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics is also investigated, and Zeno behavior can be excluded. Subsequently, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

Proposal of a Pretreatment Nomogram for Predicting Local Recurrence after Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in T4 Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Retrospective Review of 415 Chinese Patients

Lu-Lu Zhang,Yi-Yang Li,Jiang Hu,Guan-Qun Zhou,Lei Chen,Wen-Fei Li,Ai-Hua Lin,Jun Ma,Zhen-Yu Qi,Ying Sun 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.4

Purpose Local relapse-free survival (LRFS) differs widely among patients with T4 category nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We aimed to build a nomogram incorporating clinicopathological information to predict LRFS in T4 NPC after definitive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Materials and Methods Retrospective study of 415 Chinese patients with non-metastatic T4 NPC treated with definitive IMRT with or without chemotherapy at our cancer center between October 2009 and September 2013. The nomogram for LRFS at 3 and 5 years was generated based on multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, and validated using bootstrap resampling, assessing discriminative performance using the concordance index (C-index) and determining calibration ability via calibration curves. Results Five-year LRFS was 88.8%. We identified and incorporated four independent prognostic factors for LRFS: ethmoid sinus invasion, primary gross tumor volume, age, and pretreatment body mass index. The C-index of the nomogram for local recurrence was 0.732 (95% confidence interval, 0.726 to 0.738), indicating excellent predictive accuracy. The calibration curve revealed excellent agreement between nomogram-predicted and observed LRFS probabilities. Risk subgroups based on total point score cutoff values enabled effective discrimination of LRFS. Conclusion This pretreatment nomogram enables clinicians to accurately predict LRFS in T4 NPC after definitive IMRT, and could help to facilitate personalized patient counselling and treatment strategies.

RNA sequencing reveals that Prx II gene knockout can down-regulate the allograft rejection of dermal mesenchymal stem cells

Han Ying-Hao,Mao Ying-Ying,Yu Nan-Nan,Jin Mei-Hua,Jin Ying-Hua,Wang Ai-Guo,Zhang Yong-Qing,Shen Gui-Nan,Cui Yu-Dong,Yu Li-Yun,Lee Dong-Seok,Jo Yu-Jin,Sun Hu-Nan,Kwon Jeongwoo,권태호 한국응용생명화학회 2020 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.63 No.3

In this study, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyze and compare bulk cell samples from wild-type (WT) dermal mesenchymal stem cells (DMSCs) (n = 3) and Prx II knockout DMSCs (n = 3). The purpose of the study was to elucidate the role of Prx II on allogeneic immune rejection of transplanted DMSCs. The results revealed differential expression of 472 genes (176 up-regulated and 296 down-regulated; p ≤ 0.05) between the PrxII+/+ (WT) and PrxII−/− sample groups. When highly regulated genes were categorized according to the Gene Ontology (GO) molecular function classification and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, the PrxII−/− samples showed a robust downward trend in allograft rejection. The study identified 43 all immunologically rejected differentially expressed genes, of which 41 showed lower expression in the PrxII−/− vs. PrxII+/+ (WT) samples. These findings suggest that Prx II gene knockout may down-regulate the allograft rejection that occurs during DMSCs transplantation and improve the survival rate of DMSCs in the host. This study provides a new perspective on the clinical treatment of stem cell transplantation.

Functional Study of Active Residues Scorpion Insect Toxin BmK IT from Buthus martensii Karsch

Yuejun Fu,Renjia Yang,Wujian Chen,Zhiyi Wu,Ai-Hua Liang,Fengyun Hu 한국생물공학회 2014 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.19 No.2

Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch(BmK) venom is a rich source of neurotoxins which bindto various ion channels with high affinity and specificityand thus widely used as compounds to modulate channelgating. An excitatory insect toxin, BmK IT, is not conservedwith a glutamate residue at the preceding position of thethird Cys residue, and is a toxin with a non-glutamateresidue at the relevant position in the excitatory scorpion β-toxin subfamily. In this study, the mutants of recombinantBmK IT (BmK IT (I25E), BmK IT (E15G), BmK IT Cterminal(TKSYCDVQIN) truncated) were achieved bysite-directed mutagenesis. Biological activity of BmK ITand its mutants confirmed these residues or peptides playedkey roles in BmK IT. BmK IT (I25E) could increase thesensitivity of BmK IT, but BmK IT(E15G) could decreasethe sensitivity of BmK IT on Sf9 cells. BmK IT truncatedC-terminal hydrophobic amino acids could cross thespecies boundaries and was effective on mammalian C6cells. To date, several excitatory insect toxins have beenisolated and identified from the venom of Buthus martensiiKarsch. However, no functional data are available andtherefore its classification in the family of excitatory insecttoxins remains putative and is just based on its highsimilarity with the other toxins of this family. These resultsverified I25, E15 and C-terminal (TKSYCDVQIN) inBmK IT played key roles in the interaction of the BmK ITand its receptor- sodium channels on the surface of insectcells and laid a foundation for further structural andfunctional analysis of BmK IT.

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.