Social Assistance Programs and Child Poverty Alleviation — A Comparison Between Hong Kong and Mainland China

Di Qi,Vera M. Y.Tang 한국사회복지학회 2015 Asian Social Work and Policy Review Vol.9 No.1

This paper compares the major child poverty alleviation policy in Hong Kong and the urban regions of Mainland China, i.e. Comprehensive Social Security Allowance (CSSA) Scheme and Minimum Living Security Standards (MLSS), respectively. It aims to examine whether CSSA and MLSS can tackle child poverty, to identify similarities and dissimilarities of CSSA and MLSS, and finally to suggest future policy implications or directions. A methodology of comprehensive systematic review is used to search for the relevant literature. The findings show that children living in poor families faced food consumption difficulties, lived in overcrowded environment and lacked education-related financial support and learning resources. Children’s rights emphasized in the UNCRC (United Nations, 1989) in different dimensions of living standards were often unmet due to the limited support from these two cash transfer policies. Poor children experiencing multiple disadvantages need more than just monetary or material assistance. Such findings can provide evidence for policy makers to craft holistic responses to meet the needs and remove the barriers that poor children face in China

Boundary Lubrication in Transient Elliptical Contact: Part 1- Theoretical Formulation and Results

Di-Chu Xu,Qi Zhang,Jiu-Gen Wang 한국정밀공학회 2019 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.20 No.4

The transient elliptical contacts in boundary lubrication widely exist in modern mechanical systems with high durability. However, little attention has been paid to the squeeze effect of fluid film in this condition. A deterministic model which combines the contact mechanics with the pure squeeze lubrication model has been developed with the aim of understanding the squeeze effect of fluid film under the transient boundary lubrication. The leakage coefficient was introduced to capture the fluid leakage of rough surfaces. The squeeze effect of trapped fluid film was confirmed through comparing the fluid film stiffness in boundary lubrication with that of the elastohydrodynamic lubrication. Additionally, the effects of fluid film entrapment/leakage on the boundary lubrication performance were numerically analyzed during transients. The load capacity of the squeeze films is built up due to the trapped fluid film in the micro-valleys, which can be significantly affected by the interfacial shear coefficient of the boundary films. The simulation results show a good agreement with the experiments and justify the present numerical model is feasible in the boundary lubrication regime.

Genotoxicity and effect on early stage proliferation of osteoprogenitor cells on amino-group functionalized titanium implant surface: an in vitro test

Tian-qi Guo,Yi-di Zhang,Wen-jing Luo,Xue Li,Yan-min Zhou,Jing-hui Zhao,Jing-hui Zhao 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2016 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.12 No.2

Genotoxicity and effect on early stage proliferation of osteoprogenitor cells of titanium surfaces modified by heptylamine functionalization through Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) were evaluated in current study. Mouse embryo osteoprogenitor MC3T3-E1 cells were grown on titanium surfaces of all the groups. The CCK-8 assay showed the growths of MC3T3-E1 cells on treated titanium disks were not inhibited compared with those on pure titanium groups. Result of Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis (SCGE) test indicated the treated groups showed no significant differences in tail length, tail DNA%, and tail moment compared with pure titanium group. Rate of micronucleus, nucleoplamic buds and nuclear blebs showed no significant differences between treated groups and pure titanium group. Our research exhibited that: The amino-group functionalized titanium surface has neither genotoxicity nor detrimental effects on early-stage proliferation towards osteoprogenitor cells in vitro, thus offer a theoretic support for the clinical use of such functionalized titanium as implant surface.

Hepatic Re-resection Versus Transarterial Chemoembolization for the Treatment of Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Initial Resection: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Wang, Di-Ya,Liu, Lei,Qi, Xing-Shun,Su, Chun-Ping,Chen, Xue,Liu, Xu,Chen, Jiang,Li, Hong-Yu,Guo, Xiao-Zhong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.13

Background: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to compare the post-recurrence survival with hepatic re-resection versus transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after initial resection. Materials and Methods: All relevant papers were searched via PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis was performed according to country. Sensitivity analysis was performed in studies which clearly reported the recurrent regions, in moderate/high-quality studies, in studies published in full-text form, and in studies published after 2005. Results: In total, twelve papers were included in our study. Five and seven of them were of moderate- and poor-quality, respectively. The overall meta-analysis demonstrated a statistically significantly higher post-recurrence survival in the hepatic re-resection group than in those undergoing TACE (HR=0.64, 95%CI=0.52-0.79, P<0.0001). Heterogeneity was statistically significant and statistical significance remained in the subgroup analysis. Sensitivity analyses were also consistent with the overall analysis. Conclusions: Hepatic re-resection might provide a better post-recurrence survival than TACE for recurrent HCC after initial resection. However, considering the low quality of published studies and the potential bias of treatment selection, further randomized trials should be warranted to confirm these findings.

Study on In-Situ Nucleation, Growth Kinetics and Crystallographic Structure of Acicular Ferrite in X100 Pipeline Steel Welds

Xiaonan Qi,Xiaonan Wang,Xinjun Shen,Pengcheng Huan,Zhenguang Liu,Hongshuang Di 대한금속·재료학회 2023 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.29 No.9

Acicular ferrite has appeared in various low carbon microalloyed steel welds (e.g., laser-arc hybrid welds) due to its highgrain boundary density and toughness. However, the transformation kinetics and crystallographic structure characteristics ofacicular ferrite in laser-arc hybrid welds are still unclear. In this paper, the nucleation and growth kinetics of acicular ferritein laser-metal active gas hybrid welds with different cooling rates (1–150 K/s) were investigated and their crystallographiccharacteristics were revealed from the perspective of variant. The result showed that acicular ferrite can nucleate at all thetest cooling rates in weld metal, and the microstructure coexisting with acicular ferrite changes from polygonal ferrite andgranular bainite with a low cooling rate to lath martensite with a high cooling rate. As the cooling rate increases, the phasetransformation temperature of acicular ferrite decreased, and the phase transformation mode changed from partitioninglocal equilibrium to negligible partitioning local equilibrium. The variety of the phase transformation mode and the higherphase transformation driving force led to an increase in the growth rate of acicular ferrite. Compared with the bainite andmartensite in the base metal, the acicular ferrite had the characteristics of light variant selection, uniformly distributedoperating factor and small variant size, which resulted in high-density effective grain boundaries. To obtain more acicularferrite, the cooling rate should be increased as much as possible on the premise that the phase transformation terminationtemperature was higher than the Ms.

A gender-based analysis of multidimensional poverty in China

Yichao WU,Di QI 이화여자대학교 아시아여성학센터 2017 Asian Journal of Women's Studies(AJWS) Vol.23 No.1

This paper investigates the multidimensional status of poverty in China using a gender framework. Five dimensions of deprivation were selected—health, nutrition, housing, education and income—in order to measure the severity of Chinese women’s poverty. Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS) were a source of rich information on individuals’ material wellbeing for this analysis. There are three main findings in this study: women are significantly more vulnerable to suffer from severe deprivation than men in China, especially with respect to the primary education, body mass index (BMI) and health conditions; in terms of multidimensional poverty status, women have a worse performance than men on average, with huge differences between rural and urban regions and among different provinces; many personal and household characteristics significantly shape women’s poverty experiences, as seen via the fixed effect logistic regression model.

Metabolic Regulation of Gene Expression by Histone Lysine β-Hydroxybutyrylation

Xie, Zhongyu,Zhang, Di,Chung, Dongjun,Tang, Zhanyun,Huang, He,Dai, Lunzhi,Qi, Shankang,Li, Jingya,Colak, Gozde,Chen, Yue,Xia, Chunmei,Peng, Chao,Ruan, Haibin,Kirkey, Matt,Wang, Danli,Jensen, Lindy M. Elsevier 2016 Molecular cell Vol.62 No.2

<P><B>Summary</B></P> <P>Here we report the identification and verification of a β-hydroxybutyrate-derived protein modification, lysine β-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb), as a new type of histone mark. Histone Kbhb marks are dramatically induced in response to elevated β-hydroxybutyrate levels in cultured cells and in livers from mice subjected to prolonged fasting or streptozotocin-induced diabetic ketoacidosis. In total, we identified 44 histone Kbhb sites, a figure comparable to the known number of histone acetylation sites. By ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analysis, we demonstrate that histone Kbhb is a mark enriched in active gene promoters and that the increased H3K9bhb levels that occur during starvation are associated with genes upregulated in starvation-responsive metabolic pathways. Histone β-hydroxybutyrylation thus represents a new epigenetic regulatory mark that couples metabolism to gene expression, offering a new avenue to study chromatin regulation and diverse functions of β-hydroxybutyrate in the context of important human pathophysiological states, including diabetes, epilepsy, and neoplasia.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Lysine β-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb) is a new type of histone mark </LI> <LI> 44 non-redundant histone Kbhb sites are identified in human and mouse cells </LI> <LI> Histone Kbhb increases under starvation and STZ-induced ketoacidosis </LI> <LI> Starvation-induced H3K9bhb is associated with active gene expression </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical Abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

SIRT5-related desuccinylation modification of AIFM1 protects against compression-induced intervertebral disc degeneration by regulating mitochondrial homeostasis

Mao Jianxin,Wang Di,Wang Dong,Wu Qi,Shang Qiliang,Gao Chu,Wang Huanbo,Wang Han,Du Mu,Peng Pandi,Jia Haoruo,Xu Xiaolong,Wang Jie,Yang Liu,Luo Zhuojing 생화학분자생물학회 2023 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.55 No.-

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a major role in the development of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Sirtuin 5 (SIRT5) participates in the maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis through its desuccinylase activity. However, it is still unclear whether succinylation or SIRT5 is involved in the impairment of mitochondria and development of IDD induced by excessive mechanical stress. Our 4D label-free quantitative proteomic results showed decreased expression of the desuccinylase SIRT5 in rat nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues under mechanical loading. Overexpression of Sirt5 effectively alleviated, whereas knockdown of Sirt5 aggravated, the apoptosis and dysfunction of NP cells under mechanical stress, consistent with the more severe IDD phenotype of Sirt5 KO mice than wild-type mice that underwent lumbar spine instability (LSI) surgery. Moreover, immunoprecipitation-coupled mass spectrometry (IP-MS) results suggested that AIFM1 was a downstream target of SIRT5, which was verified by a Co-IP assay. We further demonstrated that reduced SIRT5 expression resulted in the increased succinylation of AIFM1, which in turn abolished the interaction between AIFM1 and CHCHD4 and thus led to the reduced electron transfer chain (ETC) complex subunits in NP cells. Reduced ETC complex subunits resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction and the subsequent occurrence of IDD under mechanical stress. Finally, we validated the efficacy of treatments targeting disrupted mitochondrial protein importation by upregulating SIRT5 expression or methylene blue (MB) administration in the compression-induced rat IDD model. In conclusion, our study provides new insights into the occurrence and development of IDD and offers promising therapeutic approaches for IDD.

Impact of Caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N Del and D302H Polymorphisms on Prostate Cancer in Different Ethnic Groups

Zhang, Cheng-Dong,Li, Hong-Tao,Liu, Kun,Lin, Zhi-Di,Peng, Qi-Liu,Qin, Xue,He, Min,Wu, Hua,Mo, Zeng-Nan,Yang, Xiao-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.18

Background: Despite evidence suggesting roles for caspase-8 (CASP8) -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms in prostate cancer (PCa), the association of these polymorphisms with PCa risk remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to more precisely estimate the association of CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa susceptibility. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all case-control studies of CASP8 D302H and -652 6N del polymorphisms and PCa risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association and the precision of the estimate, respectively. Results: Nine -625 6N del studies and 4 D302H studies were included. CASP8 -652 6N del and D302H polymorphisms were not significantly associated with PCa risk in the overall analyses. However, in the subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity, -625 6N del was significantly associated with PCa risk in the East Asian and Indian populations under the recessive model. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis strongly suggested that D302H was associated with lower PCa risk in the Non-Indian population under the dominant model. Conclusions: In our meta-analysis, ethnic-specific differences were evident in the association of CASP8-625 6N del and D302H polymorphisms with PCa risk.

The Beneficial Effects of Electroacupuncture at PC6 Acupoints (Neiguan) on Myocardial Ischemia in ASIC3 / mice

Ying-Wang,Yi-guo Chen,Wan-shuang Zhao,Di Li,Ya-han Xu,Meng-di Li,Jin Chen,Zhi-jun Kou,Qi-ge Wang,Nsoa dimitri Joseph 사단법인약침학회 2018 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.11 No.3

This study aims to investigate the possible mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) at PC6to improve myocardial ischemia (MI) by regulating the cardiac transient outward potassiumcurrent channel (Ito). According to the random number table, the mice were dividedinto six groups of six mice each: control group, MI group, PC6, LU7 (Lieque-point), ST36(Zusanli-point), and nonacupoint group. Mice in the control group were injected with saline(20 mg/kg, 24 hours interval), and the other ASIC3 / mice were injected subcutaneouslytwice with isoproterenol (ISO) (20 mg/kg, 24 hours interval). In thepreexperiment, 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, and 30 mg/kg of ISO were used, andthe results showed that 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg of ISO both could induce acute MI, butshorter duration of sustained MI. On the other hand, an injection of 30 mg/kg can makethe mice experience arrhythmia or die immediately, and EA was operated at PC6, LU7,ST36 acupoints, and nonacupoint in the mice of PC6, LU7, ST36, and nonacupoint groups,respectively, after injecting twice. Then Western blotting techniques (Western Blot) wereused to analyze the protein expressions of Kv1.4, Kv4.2, Kv4.3, and KchIP2. The results ofthis experiment showed that the protein expressions of Kv1.4, Kv4.2, Kv4.3, and KChIP2 inMI group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.01). Comparedwith MI group, the results of PC6, LU7, and ST36 groups obviously increased (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the expressions of PC6 group were higher than LU7 group and ST36 group(p < 0.05). And electrocardiogram’s T-waves showed obvious pathological changes inthe MI group compared to the control group (p < 0.01). After EA, the abnormal T-waves voltage of ECG in PC6, LU7, and ST36 groups was improved (p < 0.05). In addition, therate change of PC6 group was larger than that of both LU7 and ST36 groups (p < 0.05). But the T-waves voltage of the nonacupoint group was not significantly different than thatof the MI group (p > 0.05).