Diabetes Mellitus Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk - No Function of Age at Diagnosis or Duration of Disease

Xu, Hua,Mao, Shan-Hua,Ding, Guan-Xiong,Ding, Qiang,Jiang, Hao-Wen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.1

Background: Prior studies examining the relation between diabetes mellitus (DM) and prostate cancer risk have reported controversial findings. We examined this association by conducting a detailed meta-analysis of the peer-reviewed literature. Methods: A comprehensive search for articles of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and bibliographies of retrieved articles published up to November, 2012 was performed. Methodological quality assessment of the trials was based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scaleq and the meta-analysis was performed using STATA 12.0. Dose-response regression was conducted with SPSS 19.0. Results: We included 29 studies in the meta-analysis (13 case-control studies, 16 cohort studies), and found an inverse association between DM and prostate cancer (relative risk (RR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78-0.91). An inverse association was also observed in non-Asian populations (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76-0.87) and population-based studies (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.77-0.91). No statistical significance was found of the association between prostate cancer risk and the duration of DM (p=0.338), and risk seemed not related with the age of DM diagnosis. Conclusions: This study suggested an inverse relationship between DM and prostate cancer, but without links to duration of disease or age of diagnosis.

Chinese Word Sense Disambiguation Based on Beam Search

Zhang Chun-Xiang,He Shan,Gao Xue-Yao,Lu Zhi-Mao 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.9 No.11

Research on word sense disambiguation (WSD) is of great importance in natural language processing. In this paper, a new method based on beam search algorithm for Chinese WSD is proposed. By mining potential knowledge between phrase and semantic category in a sentence, this approach can construct its semantic network. It searches an optimal semantic category sequence from a Chinese sentence's semantic network with beam search algorithm, so that correct meanings of ambiguous words can be found from the optimal sequence. Experiments show that a better WSD performance is gotten.

Study on the Social Adaptation of Chinese Children with Down Syndrome

Yan-xia Wang,Shan-shan Mao,Chun-hong Xie,Yu-feng Qin,Zhi-wei Zhu,Jian-ying Zhan,Jie Shao,Rong Li,Zheng-yan Zhao 연세대학교의과대학 2007 Yonsei medical journal Vol.48 No.3

Plasma Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor and CCL3 as Potential Biomarkers for Distinguishing Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma from High-Risk Individuals Who Have Positive Epstein-Barr Virus Capsid Antigen-Specific IgA

Ning Xue,Jian-Hua Lin,Shan Xing,Dan Liu,Shi-Bing Li,Yan-Zhen Lai,Xue-Ping Wang,Min-Jie Mao,Qian Zhong,Mu-Sheng Zeng,Wan-Li Liu 대한암학회 2019 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.51 No.1

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify novel plasma biomarkers for distinguishing nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients from healthy individuals who have positive Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA-IgA). Materials and Methods One hundred seventy-four plasma cytokines were analyzed by a Cytokine Array in eight healthy individuals with positive EBV VCA-IgA and eight patients with NPC. Real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunohistochemistry were employed to detect the expression levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and CC chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3) in NPC cell lines and tumor tissues. Plasma MIF and CCL3 were measured by ELISA in 138 NPC patients, 127 EBV VCA-IgA negative (VN) and 100 EBV VCA-IgA positive healthy donors (VP). Plasma EBV VCA-IgA was determined by immunoenzymatic techniques. Results Thirty-four of the 174 cytokines varied significantly between the VP and NPC group. Plasma MIF and CCL3 were significantly elevated in NPC patients compared with VN and VP. Combination of MIF and CCL3 could be used for the differential diagnosis of NPC from VN cohort (area under the curve [AUC], 0.913; sensitivity, 90.00%; specificity, 80.30%), and combination of MIF, CCL3, and VCA-IgA could be used for the differential diagnosis of NPC from VP cohort (AUC, 0.920; sensitivity, 90.00%; specificity, 84.00%), from (VN+VP) cohort (AUC, 0.961; sensitivity, 90.00%; specificity, 92.00%). Overexpressions of MIF and CCL3 were observed in NPC plasma, NPC cell lines and NPC tissues. Conclusion Plasma MIF, CCL3, and VCA-IgA combination significantly improves the diagnostic specificity of NPC in high-risk individuals.

Evaluation of Microvascular Anastomosis Using Real-Time, Ultra–High-Resolution, Fourier Domain Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography

Huang, Yong,Tong, Dedi,Zhu, Shan,Wu, Lehao,Mao, Qi,Ibrahim, Zuhaib,Lee, W. P. Andrew,Brandacher, Gerald,Kang, Jin U. Williams & Wilkins 2015 Plastic and reconstructive surgery Vol.135 No.4

BACKGROUND:: Evolution in microsurgical techniques and tools has paved the way for supermicrosurgical anastomoses, with vessel diameters often approaching below 0.8 mm in the clinical realm and even smaller (0.2 to 0.3 mm) in murine models. Several imaging and monitoring devices have been introduced for postoperative monitoring, but intraoperative guidance, assessment, and predictability have remained limited to binocular optical microscopy and the surgeon’s experience. The authors present a high-resolution, real-time, three-dimensional imaging modality for intraoperative evaluation of luminal narrowing, thrombus formation, and flow alterations. METHODS:: An imaging modality that provides immediate, in-depth, high-resolution, three-dimensional structure view and flow information of the anastomosed site, called phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography, was developed. Twenty-two mouse femoral artery anastomoses and 17 mouse venous anastomoses were performed and evaluated. Flow status, vessel inner lumen three-dimensional structure, and early thrombus detection were analyzed based on imaging results. Predictions formed correlated with actual long-term surgical outcomes. Eventually, four cases of mouse orthotopic limb transplantation were carried out, and predicted long-term patency based on imaging results was confirmed by actual results. RESULTS:: The assessments based on high-resolution three-dimensional visualization of the vessel flow status and inner lumen provided by phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography show 92 percent sensitivity and 90 percent specificity for arterial anastomoses and 90 percent sensitivity and 86 percent specificity for venous anastomoses. CONCLUSIONS:: Phase-resolved Doppler optical coherence tomography is an effective evaluation tool for microvascular anastomosis. It can predict the long-term vessel patency with high sensitivity and specificity.

CEA, AFP, CA125, CA153 and CA199 in Malignant Pleural Effusions Predict the Cause

Wang, Xin-Feng,Wu, Yan-Hua,Wang, Mao-Shui,Wang, Yun-Shan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.1

Determination of the cause of malignant pleural effusions is important for treatment and management, especially in cases of unknown primaries. There are limited biomarkers available for prediction of the cause of malignant pleural effusion in clinical practice. Hence, we evaluated pleural levels of five tumor biomarkers (CEA, AFP, CA125, CA153 and CA199) in predicting the cause of malignant pleural effusion in a retrospective study. Kruskal-Wallis or Mann-Whitney U tests were carried out to compare levels of tumor markers in pleural effusion among different forms of neoplasia - lung squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, or small cell carcinoma, mesothelioma, breast cancer, lymphoma/leukemia and miscellaneous. Receiver operator characteristic analysis was performed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of biomarkers. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant differences in levels of pleural effusion CEA (P<0.01), AFP (P<0.01), CA153 (P<0.01) and CA199 (P<0.01), but not CA125 (P>0.05), among the seven groups. Receiver operator characteristic analysis showed that, compared with other four tumor markers, CA153 was the best biomarker in diagnosing malignant pleural effusions of lung adenocarcinoma (area under curve (AUC): 0.838 (95%confidence interval: 0.787, 0.888); cut-off value: 10.2U/ml; sensitivity: 73.2% (64.4-80.8)%, specificity: 85.2% (77.8-90.8)%), lung squamous cell carcinoma (AUC: 0.716 (0.652, 0.780); cut-off value: 14.2U/ml; sensitivity: 57.6% (50.7-64.3)%, specificity: 91.2% (76.3-98.0)%), and small-cell lung cancer (AUC: 0.812 (0.740, 0.884); cut-off value: 9.7U/ml; sensitivity: 61.5% (55.0-67.8)%, specificity: 94.1% (71.2-99.0)%); CEA was the best biomarker in diagnosing MPEs of mesothelioma (AUC: 0.726 (0.593, 0.858); cut-off value: 1.43ng/ml; sensitivity: 83.7% (78.3-88.2)%, specificity: 61.1% (35.8-82.6)%) and lymphoma/leukemia (AUC: 0.923 (0.872, 0.974); cut-off value: 1.71ng/ml; sensitivity: 82.8% (77.4-87.3)%, specificity: 92.3% (63.9-98.7)%). Thus CA153 and CEA appear to be good biomarkers in diagnosing different causes of malignant pleural effusion. Our findings implied that the two tumor markers may improve the diagnosis and treatment for effusions of unknown primaries.

Differential expression of photosynthesis-related genes in pentaploid interspecific hybrid and its decaploid of Fragaria spp.

Tao Wang,Dongya Huang,Baoyu Chen,Nini Mao,Yu-Shan Qiao,Muxiang Ji 한국유전학회 2018 Genes & Genomics Vol.40 No.3

Polyploidization always induces a series of changes in genome, transcriptome and epigenetics, of which changes in gene expression are the immediate causes of genotype alterations of polyploid plants. In our previous study on strawberry polyploidization, genes related to photosynthesis were found to undergo changes in gene expression and DNA methylation. Therefore, we chose 11 genes that were closely related to plant photosynthesis and analysed their expression during strawberry hybridization and chromosome doubling. Most genes of pentaploids showed expression levels between parents and were more similar to F. × ananassa. Gene expression levels of decaploids were higher than those of pentaploids and F. × ananassa. Different types of photosynthesis-related genes responded differently to hybridization and chromosome doubling. Chloroplast genes and regulatory genes showed complex responses. Structural genes of the photosynthetic system were expressed at a constant level and displayed a clear dosage effect. The methylation levels of one CG site on SIGE, which regulates expression of chloroplast genes, were negatively correlated with gene expression. In pentaploids and decaploids, more transcripts were from F. × ananassa than from F. viridis. The ratio of transcripts from from F. × ananassa to those from F. viridis was close to the ratio (4:1) of the genome of F. × ananassa to that of F. viridis in pentaploids and decaploids, but there were also some exceptions with obvious deviation.

Optimization red emission of SrMoO4: Eu3+ via hydro-thermal co-precipitation synthesis using orthogonal experiment

Yongjun Tan,Xuedan Luo,Mingfu Mao,Dehua Shu,Wenfei Shan,Guizhi Li,Dongcai Guo 한국물리학회 2018 Current Applied Physics Vol.18 No.11

In the present study, the SrMoO4:Eu3+ phosphors has been synthesized through hydro-thermal co-precipitation method, and single factor and orthogonal experiment method was adopted to find optimal synthesis condition. It is interesting to note that hydro-thermal temperature is a prominent effect on the luminescent intensity of SrMoO4:Eu3+ red phosphor, followed by co-precipitation temperature, calcining time, and the doping amount of Eu3+. The optimal synthesis conditions were obtained: hydro-thermal temperature is 145 °C, co-precipitation temperature is 35 °C, the calcining time is 2.5 h, and the doping amount of activator Eu3+ is 25%. Subsequently, the crystalline particle size, phase composition and morphology of the synthesized phosphors were evaluated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that these phosphors possess a scheelite-type tetragonal structure, and the particle size is about 0.2 μm. Spectroscopic investigations of the synthesized phosphors are carried out with the help of photo-luminescence excitation and emission analysis. The studies reveal that SrMoO4: Eu3+ phosphor efficiently convert radiation of 394 nm–592 and 616 nm for red light, and the luminescence intensity of SrMoO4:Eu3+ phosphors is improved. SrMoO4:Eu3+ phosphors may be a potential application for enhancing the efficiency of white LEDs.

A Wireless Sensor Network Clustering Algorithm based on Hypergraph

Xu Qian,Hu Ji-cheng,Lin Hai,Kong Ruo-shan,Luo Yong-en,Zhu Li,Mao Hua-qing 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Future Generation Communi Vol.9 No.6

The paper proposes a clustering algorithm for wireless sensor network based on hypergraph. Under the hypergraph model, a wireless sensor network is mapped to a hypergraph. Then a hierarchical iterative clustering algorithm is applied to the hypergraph, thus dividing the hypergraph into multiple parts. A cluster head is selected from each part. In order to improve the partitioning process, a new modularity function is proposed. Compared with the classic clustering algorithm LEACH, simulation shows that our algorithm performs better in energy consuming and network lifetime.

Fast Thresholding Based on Improved Minimum Cross Entropy

Yong-Liang Zhang,Wen Zhang,Gang Xiao,Jia-Fa Mao,Shan-Shan Huang,Xiao-Wei Zheng 제어로봇시스템학회 2012 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2012 No.10

Image segmentation is an important and classic problem in image processing and computer vision. Thresholding is applied to many fields, because of its less computation and stable performance. The key of thresholding method is to determine the adaptive threshold. In order to segment biological image effectively, a new adaptive thresholding method is proposed. First, two dimension minimum entropy is computed based on gray-gradient co-occurrence matrix; and then the genetic algorithm is applied to encode the two-dimension threshold vector; Finally, the optimum threshold is calculated based on fitness function and uniformity measurement(UM). Experimental results show that this method has three advantages: 1) improve computational efficiency so that it can run in real time; 2) retain more object and edge information so that it can meet the practical requirement; 3) robust to the uneven distribution of light.