Positive Association of TEAD1 With Schizophrenia in a Northeast Chinese Han Population

Yang Sun,Lin Wen,Yi-Yang Luo,Wen-Juan Hu,Hui-Wen Ren,Ye Lv,Cong Zhang,Ping Gao,Li-Na Xuan,Guan-Yu Wang,Cheng-Jie Li,Zhi-Xin Xiang,Zhi-Lin Luan 대한신경정신의학회 2023 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.20 No.12

Objective Schizophrenia is a complex and devastating psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic background. However, much uncertainty still exists about the role of genetic susceptibility in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) is a transcription factor associated with neurodevelopment and has modulating effects on various nervous system diseases. In the current study, we performed a case–control association study in a Northeast Chinese Han population to explore the characteristics of pathogenic <i>TEAD1</i> polymorphisms and potential association with schizophrenia.Methods We recruited a total of 721 schizophrenia patients and 1,195 healthy controls in this study. The 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene region of <i>TEAD1</i> were selected and genotyped.Results The genetic association analyses showed that five SNPs (rs12289262, rs6485989, rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls in allele or/and genotype frequencies. After Bonferroni correction, the association of three SNPs (rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) with schizophrenia were still evident. Haplotype analysis revealed that two strong linkage disequilibrium blocks (rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256 and rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were globally associated with schizophrenia. Four haplotypes (C-C-C and T-T-T, rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256; G-T-A and G-T-G, rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.Conclusion The current findings indicated that the human <i>TEAD1</i> gene has a genetic association with schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population and may act as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.

Swelling/Deswelling Self-Oscillating of Microgels Induced by the BZ Reaction with Fe(phen)3 Catalyst

Jie Ren,Jinfen Gu,Li Tao,Guangcheng Zhang,Wu Yang 한국고분자학회 2016 Macromolecular Research Vol.24 No.6

A novel kind of microgels, poly(NIPAAm-co-Fe(phen)3-co-AAc), were prepared by copolymerization N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), acrylic acid (AAc) and iron(II) 5-acrylamide-1,10-phenanthroline-bi(1,10-phenanthroline) (Fe(phen)3), the catalyst for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. The microgels were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). In addition, the self-oscillating behaviors of the microgels were investigated in BZ system free of catalyst. Both the redox potential and transmittance self-oscillation were observed. Moreover, the amplitudes of poly(NIPAAm-co-Fe(phen)3-co-AAc) microgels are much larger than those of linear polymer and gel. This advantage originated from the special structure, size and composition of the microgels.

Fabrication Tough and Electrically Conductive Graphene-Based Nanocomposite Gels with Self-Oscillating Performance

Jie Ren,Xuemiao Wang,Aixia Zhang,Lan Zhang,Lingling Zhao,Yan Li,Wu Yang 한국고분자학회 2020 Macromolecular Research Vol.28 No.13

Stimulus-responsive polymer gel materials were studied and applied widely in many fields in recent years. However, the poor electrically conductive property and even with poor toughness largely limit their extensive applications in more expanded fields. Herein, we report a novel kind of self-oscillating gels poly(acrylamide-coacrylic acid-co-Fe(phen)3)/reduced graphene oxide (poly(AM-co-AC-co-Fe(phen)3)/ RGO) with excellent electrical conductivity, and compressive strength via an in-situ polymerization accompanied by an ultrasonic assisted method. The dispersed reduced graphene oxide (RGO) improved the conductive and mechanical properties of the prepared materials remarkably. The conductivity of gel reached to 16.88 S·m-1 with the content of 0.34 wt% RGO and the maximum fracture pressure was 4.1 MPa, which is as high as human cartilage. Besides, the prepared gels exhibited the self-oscillating behavior in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) solution free of catalyst. Therefore, the prepared materials have potential applications as artificial cartilage and soft electron instrument.

Analysis of Free Amino Acids during Fermentation by Bacillus subtilis Using Capillary Electrophoresis

Yanli Ren,Jinyan Zhou,Xiaoyong Zhang,Zhidong Li,Juan Zhong,Jie Yang,Tan Xu,Hong Tan 한국생물공학회 2012 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.17 No.6

A high performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) method was presented to identify and quantitate free amino acids during fermentation by Bacillus subtilis. Amino acids, pre-column derivatized with phenylisothicyanate,were separated and characterized by HPCE. In order to optimize separation conditions, the assay was developed by varying the β-cyclodextrin concentration and pH of the background electrolyte. A buffer system comprising 30 mM phosphate and 3 mM β-cyclodextrin at pH 7.0, voltage of 20 kV and detection wavelength of 254 nm showed the best results, with 17 out of 20phenylthioncarbamyl amino acids in a solution adequately separated. For quantification, p-aminobenzoic acid was added as an internal standard. Analysis of free amino acids in Bacillus subtilis culture medium using this method revealed good consistency with the values obtained using conventional ninhydrin-based amino acid analyzer. Four free amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, and tyrosine) concentration in an extracellular matrix during fermentation by Bacillus subtilis were mainly monitored using this method.

Methanol synthesis from CO2 hydrogenation over Cu/g-Al2O3 catalysts modified by ZnO, ZrO2 and MgO

Hong Ren,Cheng-Hua Xu,Hao-Yang Zhao,Ya-Xue Wang,Jie Liu,Jian-Ying Liu 한국공업화학회 2015 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.28 No.-

Cu/g-Al2O3 catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO2 are prepared and modified by metal oxides viaimpregnation in the present work. Results indicate that promoters modification leads to the formation ofsmall Cu0 particles with a high dispersion, improves catalytic performance of Cu-based catalysts inmethanol synthesis. Moreover, the activation temperature is another important factor on affecting theCu0 dispersion and particle size. The investigation on CO2 hydrogenation shows that methanol is mainlyfrom hydrogenation of activated CO2 with active hydrogen on Cu0 particles, which is inhibited by highreaction temperature due to improvement on reverse water-gas shift reaction and methanation

PSR CC/CV AC-DC converter with an adaptive high-precision closed-loop constant current control scheme

Gu, Yang,Ju, Dongqian,Wang, Lei,Ren, Jie,Chang, Changyuan The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2021 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.21 No.7

A primary-side regulation (PSR) constant current (CC) output and constant voltage (CV) output AC-DC converter is proposed and an adaptive high-precision closed-loop constant current control scheme is put forward in this paper. In the CC mode, the converter adopts the closed-loop control strategy to realize that the switching period adaptively converges to twice the demagnetization time, which realizes the CC output. In addition, exactly detecting the demagnetization time is a prerequisite for obtaining a high-precision output current. Therefore, a demagnetization time detection circuit is designed to provide accurate and reliable demagnetization information. The control IC was fabricated with the Nuvoton 0.5um BCD process, and a 5 V/2 A prototype circuit was implemented to verify its performance. Experimental results show that the CC deviation is within ± 1.4%, which is lower than the target value of ± 2.0%. Under different loads and AC inputs, the conversion efficiency in the CC mode varies between 76.3% and 80.7%.

Sagittal Pelvic Radius in Low-Grade Isthmic Lumbar Spondylolisthesis of Chinese Population

Zhao, Yang,Shen, Cai-Liang,Zhang, Ren-Jie,Cheng, Da-Wei,Dong, Fu-Long,Wang, Jun The Korean Neurosurgical Society 2016 Journal of Korean neurosurgical society Vol.59 No.3

Objective : To investigate the variation of pelvic radius and related parameters in low-grade isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis. Methods : Seventy-four patients with isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis and 47 controls were included in this study. There were 17 males and 57 females between 30 and 66 years of age, including 30 with grade I slippages and 44 grade II slippages; diseased levels included 34 cases on L4 and 40 cases on L5. Thoracic kyphosis (TK), the pelvic radius (PR), the pelvic angle (PA), pelvic morphology (PR-S1), and total lumbopelvic lordosis (PR-T12) were assessed from radiographs. Results : Statistically significant differences were found for the PA, PR-T12, and PR-S1 ($24.5{\pm}6.6^{\circ}$, $83.7{\pm}9.8^{\circ}$, and $25.4{\pm}11.2^{\circ}$, respectively) of the patients with spondylolisthesis and the healthy volunteers ($13.7{\pm}7.8^{\circ}$, $92.9{\pm}9.2^{\circ}$, and $40.7{\pm}8.9^{\circ}$, respectively). The TK/PR-T12 ratios were between 0.15 and 0.75. However, there were no differences in all the parameters between the L4 and L5 spondylolysis subgroups (p>0.05). The TK and PR-S1 of grade II were less than grade I, but the PA was greater. The PR-T12 of female patients were less than male patients, but the PA was greater (p<0.05). Conclusion : Pelvic morphology differed in patients with low-grade isthmic lumbar spondylolisthesis compared to controls. Gender and the grade of slippage impacted the sagittal configuration of the pelvis, but the segment of the vertebral slip did not. Overall, the spine of those with spondylolisthesis remains able to maintain sagittal balance despite abnormal pelvic morphology.

Identification and Functional Analysis of the Chain Length Determinant Gene ste8 Involved in the Biosynthesis of Ebosin by Streptomyces sp.139

( Zhang Yang ),( Xiao Hua Li ),( Xiao Qaing Qi ),( Jun Jie Shan ),( Rong Jiang ),( Lian Hong Guo ),( Ren Zhang ),( Yuan Li ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2013 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.23 No.11

Ebosin, a novel exopolysaccharide produced by Streptomyces sp. 139, has obvious antirheumatic arthritis activity in vivo, and its biosynthesis gene cluster (ste), consisting of 27 open reading frames, has been identified. This paper reports our study of the gene functionality of ste8, the predicted protein product of which is homologous to some bacterial chain length determinant Wzz proteins. For characterization of Ste8, ste8 was cloned and expressed in the mutant strain E. coli 086:H2 (Δwzz). The functional complementation of wzz by ste8 was demonstrated by the restoration of wild-type lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and increased levels of serum resistance of E. coli 086:H2 (Δwzz) (pET30a-ste8). To examine the function of ste8 in ebosin biosynthesis, the gene was knocked out with a double crossover via homologous recombination. The molecular weight of the ebosin derivative EPS-8m produced by the mutant Streptomyces sp. 139 (ste8-) was much lower than that of ebosin, and the binding activity of EPS-8m for IL-1R decreased significantly compared with ebosin. These results demonstrate that ste8 encodes a chain length determinant (Wzz) that functions in ebosin biosynthesis.

125I Seed Permanent Implantation as a Palliative Treatment for Stage III and IV Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma

Lei Li,Jie Yang,Xiaojiang Li,Xiaoli Wang,Yanxin Ren,Jimin Fei,Yan Xi,Ruimei Sun,Jing Ma 대한이비인후과학회 2016 Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol.9 No.3

Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of percutaneous 125I seed permanent implantation for advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma from toxicity, tumor response, and short-term outcome. Methods. 125I seeds implant procedures were performed under computed tomography for 34 patients with advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma. We observed the local control rate, overall survival, and acute or late toxicity rate. Results. In the 34 patients (stage III, n=6; stage IV, n=28), the sites of origin were pyriform sinus (n=29) and postcricoid area (n=5). All patients also received one to four cycles of chemotherapy after seed implantation. The post-plan showed that the actuarial D90 of 125I seeds ranged from 90 to 158 Gy (median, 127 Gy). The mean follow-up was 12.3 months (range, 3.4 to 43.2 months). The local control was 2.1–31.0 months with a median of 17.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.4 to 22.0 months). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year local controls were 65.3%, 28.6%, and 9.5% respectively. Twelve patients (35%) died of local recurrence, fourteen patients (41%) died of distant metastases, and three patients (9%) died of recurrence and metastases at the same time. Five patients (15%) still survived to follow-up. At the time of analysis, the median survival time was 12.5 months (95% CI, 9.5 to 15.4 months). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates were 55.2%, 20.3%, and 10.9%, respectively. Five patients (15%) experienced grade 3 toxic events and nine patients (26%) have experienced grade 2 toxic events. Conclusion. This review shows relatively low toxicity for interstitial 125I seed implantation in the patients with advanced stage hypopharyngeal cancer. The high local control results suggest that 125I seed brachytherapy implant as a salvage or palliative treatment for advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma merit further investigation.

Synthesis and Characterization of pH-sensitive and Self-oscillating IPN Hydrogel in a pH Oscillator

Liping Wang,Jie Ren,Xiaoyan Zhang,Xiaoci Yang,Wu Yang 한국고분자학회 2015 폴리머 Vol.39 No.3

A self-oscillating interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) poly(acrylic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PAA/PEG) hydrogel was prepared by using radical polymerization with a two-step method. The IPN hydrogel was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and morphological analysis. The results indicated that the chains of PEG and PAA twined to form porous structure which is beneficial to water molecules entering inside of the hydrogel. In addition, the pH-responsive behavior, salt sensitivity, swelling/de-swelling oscillatory behaviors and self-oscillation in a closed pH oscillator were also studied. The results showed that the prepared hydrogel exhibited pH-sensitivity, good swelling/de-swelling reversibility and excellent salt sensitivity. The self-oscillating behavior of swelling/de-swelling for the prepared hydrogel was caused by pH alteration coupled with the external media. This study may create a new possibility as biomaterial including new self-walking actuators and other related devices.