Early Recognition of Pediatric Strokes in the Emergency Department: Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, and Factors Impeding Stroke Diagnosis in Children

Si Qi Tan(Si Qi Tan),Wen Qi Cher(Wen Qi Cher),Shu-Ling Chong(Shu-Ling Chong),Angelina Su Yin Ang(Angelina Su Yin Ang ),Sashikumar Ganapathy(Sashikumar Ganapathy ),Derrick Wei Shih Chan(Derrick Wei Shi 대한소아신경학회 2022 대한소아신경학회지 Vol.31 No.1

Purpose: Strokes are challenging to diagnose in pediatric emergency departments (EDs) as level of suspicion is low and atypical presentations are common. We analyzed clinical features, epidemiology and factors of delayed identification in arterial ischemic strokes (AIS) and hemorrhagic strokes (HS). Methods: Single-center retrospective cohort study of children aged between 29 days and 18 years old diagnosed with stroke between July 2016 to June 2021. Results: Among 36 children, 11 (30.5%) had AIS, 25 (69.4%) had HS. Median age for AIS was 9 years (interquartile range [IQR], 2 to 9) and HS 9 years (IQR, 1 to 11.5) (P=0.715). Focal neurological deficit was seen in 72.7% of AIS and 20% of HS (P=0.006). Only 18.2% of AIS and 52.0% of HS presented within 6 hours of symptoms. Median time from symptom onset to ED presentation was 24 hours (IQR, 12 to 28) for AIS and 7 hours (IQR, 1.8 to 48) for HS (P=0.595). Most (85.6%) arrived by own transport. Median time from presentation to neuroimaging was 7 hours (IQR, 0.9 to 7) for AIS and 4.8 (IQR, 1.3 to 16.8) hours for HS (P=0.376). Eleven patients, 9/25 (36.0%) HS and 2/11 (18.2%) AIS, did not have stroke as differential diagnosis at ED (P=0.714). Common initial diagnoses were viral illness or headaches. On univariate analysis, age <1 (odds ratio [OR], 17.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 250.4; P=0.035) and absence of focal neurological deficit (OR, 13.091; 95% CI, 1.5 to 117.9; P=0.022) were significant factors for delayed identification. Conclusion: Index of suspicion for pediatric strokes among caregivers and clinicians should be increased. Public awareness campaigns are recommended.

Roles of E-Cadherin (CDH1) Genetic Variations in Cancer Risk: a Meta-analysis

Deng, Qi-Wen,He, Bang-Shun,Pan, Yu-Qin,Sun, Hui-Ling,Xu, Ye-Qiong,Gao, Tian-Yi,Li, Rui,Song, Guo-Qi,Wang, Shu-Kui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.8

E-Cadherin (CDH1) genetic variations may be involved in invasion and metastasis of various cancers by altering gene transcriptional activity of epithelial cells. However, published studies on the association of CDH1 gene polymorphisms and cancer risk remain contradictory, owing to differences in living habits and genetic backgrounds. To derive a more better and comprehensive conclusion, the present meta-analysis was performed including 57 eligible studies of the association between polymorphisms of CDH1 gene promoter -160 C>A, -347 G>GA and 3'-UTR +54 C>T and cancer risk. Results showed that these three polymorphisms of CDH1 were significantly associated with cancer risk. For -160 C>A polymorphism, -160A allele carriers (CA and CA+AA) had an increased risk of cancer compared with the homozygotes (CC), and the similar result was discovered for the -160A allele in the overall analyses. In the subgroup analyses, obvious elevated risk was found with -160A allele carriers (AA, CA, CA+AA and A allele) for prostate cancer, while a decreased colorectal cancer risk was shown with the AA genotype. For the -347 G>GA polymorphism, the GAGA genotype was associated with increased cancer risk in the overall analysis with homozygous and recessive models. In addition, results of subgroup analysis indicated that the elevated risks were observed in colorectal cancer and Asian descendants. For +54 C>T polymorphism, a decreased risk of cancer was found in heterozygous, dominant and allele models. Moreover, +54T allele carriers (CT, CT+TT genotype and T allele) showed a potential protective factor in gastric cancer and Asian descendants.

Note of Clarification of Data in the Meta-analysis of XPC 939A>C and 499C>T Polymorphisms in Skin Cancer

Wang, Shu-Qi,Li, Jing,Tang, Wen-Ru,Luo, Ying Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.4

Curcumol Induces Apoptosis in SPC-A-1 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells and Displays Anti-neoplastic Effects in Tumor Bearing Mice

Tang, Qi-Ling,Guo, Ji-Quan,Wang, Qi-You,Lin, Hai-Shu,Yang, Zhou-Ping,Peng, Tong,Pan, Xue-Diao,Liu, Bing,Wang, Su-Jun,Zang, Lin-Quan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.6

Curcumol is a sesquiterpene originally isolated from curcuma rhizomes, a component of herbal remedies commonly used in oriental medicine. Its beneficial pharmacological activities have attract significant interest recently. In this study, anti-cancer activity of curcumol was examined with both in vitro and in vivo models. It was found that curcumol exhibited time- and concentration-dependent anti-proliferative effects in SPC-A-1 human lung adenocarcinoma cells with cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase while apoptosis-induction was also confirmed with flow cytometry and morphological analyses. Interestingly, curcumol did not display growth inhibition in MRC-5 human embryonic lung fibroblasts, suggesting the anti-proliferative effects of curcumol were specific to cancer cells. Anti-neoplastic effects of curcumol were also confirmed in tumor bearing mice. Curcumol (60 mg/ kg daily) significantly reduced tumor size without causing notable toxicity. In conclusion, curcumol appears a favorable anti-cancer candidate for further development.

Root Health Evaluation of Different Alfalfa Varieties in Agricultural and Animal Husbandly Areas

Qi-zhong Sun,Li-jun Xu,Zhu Yu,Shu-fen Zhao 한국초지조사료학회 2009 한국초지조사료학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2009 No.08

Research on alfalfa root morphology and health is very important in development of technology for efficient improvement and production of alfalfa. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the root morphology and health of two alfalfa varieties, Algonquin and Golden Queen, to determine relationships among root morphology traits and root health. Results from these analyses indicated t㏊t yield was 6.77-43.93 t/h㎡, total root length ranged from 215.17-708.89 ㎜, root surface area ranged from 93.61-717.06 ㎠, volume ranged from 3.24-57.72㎤. Results from these analyses indicated t㏊t root infestation score was the lowest averaged over age of alfalfa stand in Algonquin. Yield in 2-yr old stands was greater in Golden Queen compared to Algonquin.

Synthesis of Tailed Metalloporphyrins Modified with 2-Chloronicotinic Acid and Interactions with Human Serum Albumin

Shu-Jun Wang,Yu-Ling Peng,Cheng-Gen Zhang,Qi Peng Ma,Xiao Xia Peng,Li Lei Ren 대한화학회 2017 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.38 No.7

Two kinds of free-base tailed porphyrins modified with 2-chloronicotinic acid and the corresponding Zn porphyrins have been synthesized. They have been characterized by elemental analysis and NMR, UV/Vis, fluorescence spectra, and infrared spectroscopies. Their configurations have been optimized through theoretical calculations. The fluorescence quantum yields were determined by a comparative method. The interactions between the Zn porphyrins and human serum albumin have been studied by means of fluorescence spectra. The experimental results showed that the interaction mechanism involved a combined fluorescence quenching process (static and dynamic quenching) and that the main driving force was hydrophobic in nature. Quenching constants, binding constants, thermodynamic parameters, and binding distances have been determined.

A Noninjection Reaction Route to CuInSe2 Nanocrystals with Triethanolamine as the Complexing Agent

Qi-Yi Zhang,Wen-Long Liu,Meng-Qiang Wu,Ru-Chao Zhou,Li-Dan Yan,Shu-Ren Zhang 대한화학회 2011 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.32 No.12

The chalcopyrite-type CuInSe_2 is a remarkable material for thin film solar cells owing to its electronic structure and optical response. Single-phase sphere-like CuInSe_2 nanocrystallite particles were prepared by a facile noninjection method with triethanolamine as the complexing agent and the solvent simultaneously. The period of the reaction was the key to form single-phase CuInSe_2 nanocrystals at 240 ^oC. TEM, XRD, XPS, EDX investigations were performed to characterize the morphology and the detailed structure of as-synthesized CuInSe_2 nanocrystals. All of the analysis results proved that the synthesized nanocrystals were pure phase and close to the stoichiometric ratio rather than a simple mixture. The band gap of the obtained CuInSe_2nanocrystals was 1.03 ± 0.03 eV.

Formation Tracking Control for Multi-agent Systems: A Wave-equation based Approach

Shu-Xia Tang,Jie Qi,Jing Zhang 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2017 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.15 No.6

This paper considers the formation tracking control problem of large-scaled Multi-Agent Systems (MAS)for which the model is based on a system of mutually independent wave Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). Thespatial derivatives in the equation correspond to the underlying communication topology of the agents. A leaderfollowermode is employed in the control algorithm, with which the agents on the boundary of PDEs are chosenas leaders knowing the tracking trajectory and all the other agents are followers. Each follower has only the informationof its own relative position and velocity to its topological neighbors. With a designed distributed controller,the formation tracking error is bounded by a constant proportional to the acceleration of the desired trajectory. Robustness of the control law to a perturbation in the velocity measurement is also discussed. Furthermore, somesimulation studies are provided to show the effectiveness of the control algorithm.

Impact and close-in blast response of auxetic honeycomb-cored sandwich panels: Experimental tests and numerical simulations

Qi, Chang,Remennikov, Alex,Pei, Lian-Zheng,Yang, Shu,Yu, Zhi-Hang,Ngo, Tuan D. Elsevier 2017 COMPOSITE STRUCTURES -BARKING THEN OXFORD- Vol.180 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Protecting building, critical infrastructure and military vehicles from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) has become a critical task. This study aims to examine the performance of a new protective system utilizing auxetic honeycomb-cored sandwich panels for mitigation of shock loads from close-in and contact detonations of high explosives. Both field blast tests and drop weight tests were performed using the proposed sandwiches asa shield for concrete panels in combination with conventional steel protective plates. The combined shield was found to be effective in protecting reinforced concrete structures against severe impact and close-in blast loadings. The honeycomb core with re-entrant hexagonal cells shows evident auxetic characteristics which contribute substantially to outstanding force mitigation and blast-resistance performances of such sandwich panels. Numerical simulations showed good agreement with the experimental results. The proposed auxetic panels were found to perform better than conventional honeycomb panels of the same size, areal density and material. Both were found to boost the energy absorption of the monolithic steel plate by a factor of 2.5 by changing its deformation pattern under close-in blast loading. In addition, a combination of the steel plate and an auxetic sandwich panel has aerial specific energy absorption (<I>ASEA</I>) higher than either of them, showing great potential for the development of lightweight blast protection of civil, mining, military, nuclear infrastructure and vehicles.</P>

Comparative analysis of type 2 diabetes-associated gut microbiota between Han and Mongolian people

Shu-chun Li,Yao Xiao,Ri-tu Wu,Dan Xie,Huan-hu Zhao,Gang-yi Shen,En-qi Wu 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.7

Due to the different rates of diabetes in different ethnic groupsand the structural differences in intestinal microbiota, thisstudy evaluated the changes in diabetes-related intestinal microbiotain two ethnic groups. Fifty-six stool samples werecollected from subjects from the Han and Mongolian ethnicgroups in China, including participants without diabetes(non-diabetic, ND) and with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The 16SrDNA gene V3 + V4 area was extracted from microbiota,amplified by PCR, and used to perform high-throughput sequencingand screen differential microbiota associated withethnicity. The results showed that there were 44 T2D-relatedbacterial markers in the Han subjects, of which Flavonifractor,Alistipes, Prevotella, Oscillibacter, Clostridium XlVa,and Lachnospiracea_incertae_sedis were most closely relatedto diabetes. There were 20 T2D-related bacterial markers inthe Mongolian subjects, of which Fastidiosipila and Barnesiellawere most closely related to diabetes. The commonmarkers of T2D bacteria in the two ethnic groups were Papillibacterand Bifidobacterium. There were 17 metabolic pathwayswith significant differences between the ND and T2Dgroups in the Han group, and 29 metabolic pathways in theMongolian group. The glutamatergic metabolic pathway wasthe only common metabolic pathway in two ethnic groups. The composition and function of diabetes-related bacteriawere significantly different among the different ethnic groups,which suggested that the influence of ethnic differences shouldbe fully considered when studying the association betweendiabetes and bacteria. In addition, the common bacterialmarkers found in diabetic patients of different ethnic groupsin this study can be used as potential targets to study the pathogenesisand treatment of diabetes.