Fatty Acid-Binding Protein 4 in Patients with and without Diabetic Retinopathy

Ping Huang,Xiaoqin Zhao,Yi Sun,Xinlei Wang,Rong Ouyang,Yanqiu Jiang,Xiaoquan Zhang,Renyue Hu,Zhuqi Tang,Yunjuan Gu 대한당뇨병학회 2022 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.46 No.4

Background: Fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) has been demonstrated to be a predictor of early diabetic nephropathy. However, little is known about the relationship between FABP4 and diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study explored the value of FABP4 as a biomarker of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods: A total of 238 subjects were enrolled, including 20 healthy controls and 218 T2DM patients. Serum FABP4 levels were measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The grade of DR was determined using fundus fluorescence angiography. Based on the international classification of DR, all T2DM patients were classified into the following three subgroups: non-DR group, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) group, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) group. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the correlation between FABP4 levels and DR severity.Results: FABP4 correlated positively with DR severity (<i>r</i>=0.225, <i>P</i>=0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to assess the diagnostic potential of FABP4 in identifying DR, with an area under the curve of 0.624 (37% sensitivity, 83.6% specificity) and an optimum cut-off value of 76.4 μg/L. Multivariate logistic regression model including FABP4 as a categorized binary variable using the cut-off value of 76.4 μg/L showed that the concentration of FABP4 above the cut-off value increased the risk of NPDR (odds ratio [OR], 3.231; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.574 to 6.632; <i>P</i>=0.001) and PDR (OR, 3.689; 95% CI, 1.306 to 10.424; <i>P</i>=0.014).Conclusion: FABP4 may be used as a serum biomarker for the diagnosis of DR.

ON THE END EXTENDING IN THE HILBERT-HUANG TRANSFORM

Da Ji Huang,Jin Ping Zhao,Ji Lian Su 한국해안해양공학회 1999 학술강연회 발표논문초록집 Vol.1 No.1

Hilbert-Huang transform is powerful method of nonlinear and non-stationary time series analysis. Two approaches, mirror periodic and extrema extending method, have been developed for handling the end effects of Hilbert-Huang transform. The mirror periodic method is based on the data distribution at ends. Two mirrors are placed at the extrema of both ends. The data within the mirrors are extended with mirror reflection to obtain a periodic sequence. With this method, the end effects of empirical mode decomposition and Hilbert transform are solved once forever. The mirror periodic method can get best results by placed the mirrors at the extrema, which have symmetric property of the data. Extrema extending method is implemented by adding two maxima and minima at the ends, which are defined by the two consecutive extrema of the data at ends. It is easy to perform and has equally well behalf as mirror periodic method. The extrema method is superior to the mirror periodic method when the data has strong asymmetric waveform.

Decreased Expression of LKB1 Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Hepatectomy

Huang, Yue-Han,Chen, Zhen-Kun,Huang, Ka-Te,Li, Peng,He, Bin,Guo, Xu,Zhong, Jun-Qiao,Zhang, Qi-Yu,Shi, Hong-Qi,Song, Qi-Tong,Yu, Zheng-Ping,Shan, Yun-Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.3

Aim: To study any correlation of LKB1 expression with prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases. Methods: A total of 70 HCC patients and 20 primary intrahepatic stone patients in the first affiliated hospital of Wenzhou Medical College were enrolled in this study. LKB1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry. Patients were followed-up and prognostic factors were evaluated. Result: LKB1 expression was decreased in the HCC samples. Loss of LKB1 expression in HCC was significantly related to histologic grade (P=0.010), vascular invasion (P=0.025) and TMN stage (P=0.011). Patients showing negative LKB1 expression had a significantly shorter disease-free and overall survival than those with positive expression (P = 0.001, P=0.000, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that LKB1 expression level was an independent factor of survival (P = 0.033). Conclusion: HCC patients with decreased expression LKB1 have a poor prognosis. The loss of LKB1 expression is correlated with a lower survival rate.

Myanmar's 2020 election: Explaining the strong performance of the NLD and some ethnic parties

Huang Kai-Ping 동아시아연구원 2022 Journal of East Asian Studies Vol.22 No.2

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won another landslide victory in the 2020 general election. Although there was widespread dissatisfaction with the government's poor management of the economy and ethnic conflicts, as well as with the pre-electoral coordination of ethnic parties in several states, opposition and ethnic-based parties had failed to gain more seats. Previous explanations had focused on the economy, electoral system bias, weak party institutionalization, and vote splitting among ethnic parties; however, they underestimated the significance of two contextual factors: military dominance of politics and ethnic conflict. This article argues that military dominance hindered normal political development in Myanmar. The anti-military sentiment favored the NLD, which made most Bamar voters disregard the party's poor economic performance. Despite the electoral system's bias, prolonged ethnic conflicts made ethnic parties that had fought for their community's causes more likely to maintain support. These arguments are verified by survey and electoral data sets. The military nullified the 2020 election claiming that electoral fraud was to blame, but the findings indicate that it was the political environment the military created that led to the victory of the NLD and some ethnic parties in the first place.

Molecular and physiological characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana Oxidation-related Zinc Finger 2, a plasma membrane protein involved in ABA and salt stress response through the ABI2-mediated signaling pathway.

Huang, Ping,Ju, Hyun-Woo,Min, Ji-Hee,Zhang, Xia,Chung, Jung-Sung,Cheong, Hyeon-Sook,Kim, Cheol Soo Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists 2012 Plant & cell physiology Vol.53 No.1

<P>CCCH-type zinc finger proteins are important for developmental and environmental responses. However, the precise roles of these proteins in plant stress tolerance are poorly understood. Arabidopsis thaliana Oxidation-related Zinc Finger 2 (AtOZF2) (At4g29190) is an AtOZF1 homolog previously isolated from Arabidopsis, which confers oxidative stress tolerance on plants. The AtOZF2 protein is localized in the plasma membrane, as is AtOZF1. Disruption expression of AtOZF2 led to reduced root length and leaf size. AtOZF2 was implicated to be involved in the ABA and salinity responses. atozf2 antisense lines were more sensitive to ABA and salt stress during the seed germination and cotyledon greening processes. In contrast, AtOZF2-overexpressing plants were more insensitive to ABA and salt stress than the wild type. Interestingly, in the presence of ABA and salt stress, the transcript level of ABA insensitive 2 (ABI2), but not that of ABI1, in AtOZF2-overexpressing plants was lower than that in the wild type, whereas the expression of ABI2 in atozf2 was significantly enhanced. Thus, AtOZF2 is involved in the ABA and salt stress response through the ABI2-mediated signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings provide compelling evidence that AtOZF2 is an important regulator for plant tolerance to abiotic stress.</P>

A High-security RFID Grouping Proof Protocol

Ping Huang,Haibing Mu 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.9 No.1

Several categories of RFID authentication protocols have been proposed recently, among which Jules [5] introduced a novel research direction, named yoking proof. It is used to solve the problem that two tags have to be scanned simultaneously for some reasons. Afterwards, the yoking proof was developed into the grouping proof protocol and many such protocols have been presented. However there are some flaws on security or computational overhead. Based on the existing grouping proof protocols, a new method on key distribution is developed in this paper by means of distributing the points on straight lines to the entities. With this method, the performance of the grouping proof protocol will be improved. In comparison with the previous protocols, it provides security enhancement and performance improvement, which balances security and computational overhead to some extent.

Adsorption of metal ions with biochars derived from biomass wastes in a fixed column: Adsorption isotherm and process simulation

Yu Ping Zhang,Vincentius Surya Kurnia Adi,Hsin-Liang Huang,Hong-Ping Lin,Zi-Hao Huang 한국공업화학회 2019 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.76 No.-

Biochars were derived from wood and water caltrop shell waste for the adsorption of Cr(III) and Cu(II) insolutions. In the competitive adsorption, Cu(II) had a good affinity for the water caltrop shell and blendedbiochars. The blended biochar was a mixture of wood and water caltrop shell biochars. Each biocharadsorption equilibrium datafit well with the Freundlich model. The effectiveness of the adsorption of Cr(III) and Cu(II) solutions utilizing biochar is proven to be effective in continuous adsorption columns, andthe adsorption performance is verified with model simulation.

Depression and APOEε4 Status in Individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Meta-Analysis

Yue-ping Huang,Ju-jun Xue,Chao Li,Xi Chen,Hong-juan Fu,Teng Fei,Peng-xiang Bi 대한신경정신의학회 2020 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.17 No.9

Objective To evaluate the associative role of depression and apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele (APOEε4) in subjective cognitive decline(SCD) and its progression to objective cognitive decline. Methods After literature search in electronic databases, studies were selected by following precise eligibility criteria. Meta-analyses were performed to examine the role of APOEε4 and depression in SCD or its progression to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Results APOEε4 positivity was not different between SCD and normal individuals but was significantly higher in individuals with SCD plus than in normal individuals [odds ratio: 2.39 (95% CI: 1.87, 3.05); p<0.00001] and in SCD converters than in non-converters [odds ratio: 5.19 (95% CI: 2.36, 11.42); p<0.00001]. Depression was significantly higher in individuals with SCD [standardized mean difference: 0.63 (0.45, 0.82); p<0.00001] and SCD plus [standardized mean difference: 0.83 (0.43, 1.22); p<0.0001] than in normal individuals. However, depression was not different between SCD and MCI or between SCD converters and non-converters. Age of SCD converters was higher than non-converters [mean difference: 2.95 years (0.58, 5.31)]. Conclusion Whereas APOEε4 positivity was higher in SCD plus and SCD converters, depression was higher in SCD and SCD plus but was not different between SCD and MCI.

Novel Query-by-Humming/Singing Method with Fuzzy Inference System

Yo-Ping Huang,Shin-Liang Lai 한국정보기술융합학회 2012 JoC Vol.3 No.4

The effi cacy of daily chlorhexidine bathing for preventing healthcare-associated infections in adult intensive care units

( Hua-ping Huang ),( Bin Chen ),( Hai-yan Wang ),( Me He ) 대한내과학회 2016 The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine Vol.31 No.6

Background/Aims: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in critically ill patients with prolonged length of hospital stay and increased medical costs. The aim of this study is to assess whether daily chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing will significantly reduce the rates of HAIs in adult intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically searched until December 31, 2014 to identify relevant studies. Two authors independently reviewed and extracted data from included studies. All data was analyzed by Review Manager version 5.3. Results: Fifteen studies including three randomized controlled trials and 12 quasi- experimental studies were available in this study. The outcomes showed that daily CHG bathing were associated with significant reduction in the rates of primary outcomes: catheter-related bloodstream infection (risk ratio [RR], 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32 to 0.63; p < 0.00001), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (RR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.88; p = 0.004), ventilator-associated pneumonia (RR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.93; p = 0.01), acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (RR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.91; p = 0.001) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (RR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.99; p = 0.05). Conclusions: Our study suggests that the use of daily CHG bathing can signifi- cantly prevent HAIs in ICUs. However, more well-designed studies are needed to confirm these findings.