Behavioral Responses of Pregnant Women to the Early Stage of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Network Era in China: Online Questionnaire Study

Wen-sheng Hu,Sha Lu,Meng-yan Xu,Min-cong Zhou,Zhen-ming Yuan,Yue-yue Deng 한국간호과학회 2021 Asian Nursing Research Vol.15 No.3

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the behavioral responses of pregnant women during the early stage of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods: We recruited 1,099 women to complete an online questionnaire survey from February 10 to February 25, 2020. The subjects were divided into two groups (the pregnant women group and the control group). Results: Concerns about infection: most of the participants watched the COVID-19 news at least once a day. Protective behaviors: the utilization rate of pregnant women (often using various measures) was higher than that of nonpregnant women. Exercise: 30.6% of the pregnant women continued to exercise at home, whereas in the control group, this percentage was 8.4%. Spouse relationship: 38.8% of the subjects’ relationship improved, whereas only 2.3% thought the relationship was getting worse. Conclusion: Pregnant women had some unique behavioral responses different from that of nonpregnant women. It is important to understand the behavioral responses of pregnant women in this network era.

Calpain-10 SNP43 and SNP19 Polymorphisms and Colorectal Cancer: a Matched Case-control Study

Hu, Xiao-Qin,Yuan, Ping,Luan, Rong-Sheng,Li, Xiao-Ling,Liu, Wen-Hui,Feng, Fei,Yan, Jin,Yang, Yan-Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Objective: Insulin resistance (IR) is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). Given that CRC and IR physiologically overlap and the calpain-10 gene (CAPN10) is a candidate for IR, we explored the association between CAPN10 and CRC risk. Methods: Blood samples of 400 case-control pairs were genotyped, and the lifestyle and dietary habits of these pairs were recorded and collected. Unconditional logistic regression (LR) was used to assess the effects of CAPN10 SNP43 and SNP19, and environmental factors. Both generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) and the classification and regression tree (CART) were used to test gene-environment interactions for CRC risk. Results: The GA+AA genotype of SNP43 and the Del/Ins+Ins/Ins genotype of SNP19 were marginally related to CRC risk (GA+AA: OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 0.92-1.99; Del/Ins+Ins/Ins: OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 0.84-2.04). Notably, a high-order interaction was consistently identified by GMDR and CART analyses. In GMDR, the four-factor interaction model of SNP43, SNP19, red meat consumption, and smoked meat consumption was the best model, with a maximum cross-validation consistency of 10/10 and testing balance accuracy of 0.61 (P < 0.01). In LR, subjects with high red and smoked meat consumption and two risk genotypes had a 6.17-fold CRC risk (95% CI = 2.44-15.6) relative to that of subjects with low red and smoked meat consumption and null risk genotypes. In CART, individuals with high smoked and red meat consumption, SNP19 Del/Ins+Ins/Ins, and SNP43 GA+AA had higher CRC risk (OR = 4.56, 95%CI = 1.94-10.75) than those with low smoked and red meat consumption. Conclusions: Though the single loci of CAPN10 SNP43 and SNP19 are not enough to significantly increase the CRC susceptibility, the combination of SNP43, SNP19, red meat consumption, and smoked meat consumption is associated with elevated risk.

Fibulin-5 is a Prognostic Marker that Contributes to Proliferation and Invasion of Human Glioma Cells

Sheng, Xu-Dong,Chen, Hu,Wang, Hui,Ding, Zhi-Bin,Xu, Gang-Zhu,Zhang, Jun-Feng,Lu, Wen-Chao,Wu, Tao,Zhao, Ling Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Fibulin-5 has recently been considered as a potential tumor suppressor in human cancers. Several studies have shown that it is down-regulated in a variety of tumor types and inhibits tumor growth and metastasis. This study was aimed to investigate the clinical significance of fibulin-5 in glioma and its role in cell proliferation and invasion. We found that the expression of fibulin-5 in glioma tissues was significantly lower than those in normal brain (NB) tissues. Negative expression was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage (grade III+IV). Furthermore, Fibulin-5 negative expression was correlated with a shorter overall survival of glioma patients. Multivariate Cox repression analysis indicated that fibulin-5 was an independent factor for predicting overall survival of glioma patients. Overexpression obviously inhibited cell proliferation in U251 and U87 cells. Furthermore, it significantly reduced the number of migrating and invading glioma cells. In conclusion, impaired expression of fibulin-5 is correlated with the advanced tumor stage in glioma. Otherwise, Fibulin-5 is an independent prognostic marker for predicting overall survival of glioma patients. Mechanistically, it may function as a tumor suppressor via inhibiting cell proliferation and invasion in gliomas.

Solvothermal Synthesis of InOOH Nanospheres with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Shuang Yang,Cheng-Yan Xu,Sheng-Peng Hu,Wen-Shou Wang,Jing Yu,Liang Zhen 대한화학회 2016 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.37 No.4

Monodispersive indium oxyhydroxide (InOOH) nanospheres were successfully synthesized by an acetic acid-assisted solvothermal method. The structure and morphology of InOOH nanospheres were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscope. The obtained InOOH nanospheres have a porous structure with diameters of 400–650 nm and a relative large specific surface area of 60.63 m2/g. Introducing a trace amount of acetic acid into the reaction system can effectively adjust the reaction rate, realizing the morphology and phase tuning of InOOH nanospheres. The InOOH nanospheres exhibit excellent photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under UV light irradiation, which is ascribed to the porous structures and high-Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of InOOH nanospheres.

Polyamidoxime functionalized with phosphate groups by plasma technique for effective U(VI) adsorption

Dadong Shao,Xiaolin Wang,Xuemei Ren,Sheng Hu,Jun Wen,Zhaoyi Tan,Jie Xiong,Abdullah M. Asiri,Hadi M. Marwani 한국공업화학회 2018 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.67 No.-

Finding poly(amidoxime) (PAO) based adsorbent with better performance in U(VI) extraction from seawater is a hot research topic. By employing plasma treatment, the bi-functionalized adsorbents containing amidoxime and phosphate (labelled as PO4/PAO) were successfully synthesized. The obtained PO4/PAO was characterized and applied for the potential extraction of U(VI) from aqueous solution. The results show that −PO4 enhanced the hydrophilicity of PAO. PO4/PAO possesses good selective sorption ability for U(VI) and excellent reusability. The findings is helpful to understand optimizing performance of PAO based adsorbents for uranium extraction from seawater.

Tumor-Suppression Mechanisms of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase O and Clinical Applications

Kang, Man-Man,Shan, Shun-Lin,Wen, Xu-Yang,Shan, Hu-Sheng,Wang, Zheng-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.15

Tyrosine phosphorylation plays an important role in regulating human physiological and pathological processes. Functional stabilization of tyrosine phosphorylation largely contributes to the balanced, coordinated regulation of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). Research has revealed PTPs play an important suppressive role in carcinogenesis and progression by reversing oncoprotein functions. Receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase O (PTPRO) as one member of the PTPs family has also been identified to have some roles in tumor development. Some reports have shown PTPRO over-expression in tumors can not only inhibit the frequency of tumor cell division and induce tumor cell death, but also suppress migration. However, the tumor-suppression mechanisms are very complex and understanding is incomplete, which in some degree blocks the further development of PTPRO. Hence, in order to resolve this problem, we here have summarized research findings to draw meaningful conclusions. We found tumor-suppression mechanisms of PTPRO to be diverse, such as controlling G0/G1 of the tumor cell proliferation cycle, inhibiting substrate phosphorylation, down-regulating transcription activators and other activities. In clinical anticancer efforts, expression level of PTPRO in tumors can not only serve as a biomarker to monitor the prognosis of patients, but act as an epigenetic biomarker for noninvasive diagnosis. In addition, the re-activation of PTPRO in tumor tissues, not only can induce tumor volume reduction, but also enhance the susceptibility to chemotherapy drugs. So, we can propose that these research findings of PTPRO will not only support new study ideas and directions for other tumor-suppressors, importantly, but also supply a theoretical basis for researching new molecular targeting agents in the future.

Biocatalysis and Fermentation Technology : Purification and Characterization of a Thermostable Xylanase from Paenibacillus sp. NF1 and its Application in Xylooligosaccharides Production

( Hong Chen Zheng ),( Ming Zhe Sun ),( Ling Cai Meng ),( Hai Sheng Pei ),( Xiu Qing Zhang ),( Zheng Yan ),( Wen Hui Zeng ),( Jing Sheng Zhang ),( Jin Rong Hu ),( Fu Ping Lu ),( Jun She Sun ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.4

High levels of extracellular xylanase activity (211.79 IU/mg) produced by Paenibacillus sp. NF1 were detected when it was submerged-cultured. After three consecutive purification steps using Octyl-Sepharose, Sephadex G75, and Q-Sepharose columns, a thermostable xylanase (XynNF) was purified to homogeneity and showed a molecular mass of 37 kDa according to SDS-PAGE. The specific activity of the purified XynNF was up to 3,081.05 IU/mg with a 14.55-fold purification. The activity of XynNF was stimulated by Ca2+, Ba2+, DTT, and β-mercaptoethanol, but was inhibited by Fe3+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Cu2+, SDS, and EDTA. The purified XynNF displayed a greater affinity for oat spelt xylan with the maximal enzymatic activity at 60°C and pH 6.0. XynNF, which was shown to be cellulose-free, with high stability at high temperature (70°C-80°C) and low pH range (pH 4.0-7.0), is potentially valuable for various industrial applications. The enzyme hydrolyzed oat spelt xylan to yield mainly xylooligosaccharides (95.8%) of 2-4 degree of polymerization (DP2-4). Moreover, the majority of the xylooligosacharides (DP2- 4) products was xylobiose (61.5%). The thermostable xylanase (XynNF) thus seems potentially usefull in the production of xylooligosaccharides.

Effects of Nutritional and Environmental Conditions on Planktonic Growth and Biofilm Formation of Citrobacter werkmanii BF-6

( Gang Zhou ),( Long Jie Li ),( Qing Shan Shi ),( You Sheng Ouyang ),( Yi Ben Chen ),( Wen Feng Hu ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2013 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.23 No.12

Citrobacter sp. is a cause of significant opportunistic nosocomial infection and is frequently found in human and animal feces, soil, and sewage water, and even in industrial waste or putrefaction. Biofilm formation is an important virulence trait of Citrobacter sp. pathogens but the process and characteristics of this formation are unclear. Therefore, we employed in vitro assays to study the nutritional and environmental parameters that might influence biofilm formation of C. werkmanii BF-6 using 96-well microtiter plates. In addition, we detected the relative transcript levels of biofilm formation genes by RT-PCR. Our results indicated that the capacity of C. werkmanii BF-6 to form biofilms was affected by culture temperature, media, time, pH, and the osmotic agents glucose, sucrose, NaCl, and KCl. Confocal laser scanning microscopy results illustrated that the structure of biofilms and extracellular polysaccharide was influenced by 100 mM NaCl or 100 mM KCl. In addition, nine biofilm formation genes (bsmA, bssR, bssS, csgD, csgE, csgF, mrkA, mrkB, and mrkE) were found to contribute to planktonic and biofilm growth. Our data suggest that biofilm formation by C. werkmanii BF-6 is affected by nutritional and environmental factors, which could pave the way to the prevention and elimination of biofilm formation using proper strategies.

Risk of venous thromboembolism in Chinese pregnant women: Hong Kong venous thromboembolism study

Duo Huang,Emmanuel Wong,Ming-Liang Zuo,Pak-Hei Chan,Wen-Sheng Yue,Hou-Xiang Hu,Ling Chen,Li-Xue Yin,Xin-Wu Cui,Ming-Xiang Wu,Xi Su,Chung-Wah Siu,Jo-Jo Hai 대한혈액학회 2019 Blood Research Vol.54 No.3

BackgroundPrevious Caucasian studies have described venous thromboembolism in pregnancy; however, little is known about its incidence during pregnancy and early postpartum peri-od in the Chinese population. We investigated the risk of venous thromboembolism in a “real-world” cohort of pregnant Chinese women with no prior history of venous thromboembolism.MethodsIn this observational study, 15,325 pregnancies were identified in 14,162 Chinese women at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong between January 2004 and September 2016. Demographic data, obstetric information, and laboratory and imaging data were retrieved and reviewed.ResultsThe mean age at pregnancy was 32.4±5.3 years, and the median age was 33 years (interquartile range, 29‒36 yr). Pre-existing or newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus was present in 627 women (4.1%); 359 (0.7%) women had pre-existing or newly detected hypertension. There was a small number of women with pre-existing heart disease and/or rheumatic conditions. Most deliveries (86.0%) were normal vaginal; the remaining were Cesarean section 2,146 (14.0%). The incidence of venous thromboembolism was 0.4 per 1,000 pregnancies, of which 83.3% were deep vein thrombosis and 16.7% were pul-monary embolism. In contrast to previous studies, 66.7% of venous thrombosis occurred in the first trimester.ConclusionChinese women had a substantially lower risk of venous thromboembolism during preg-nancy and the postpartum period compared to that of Caucasians. The occurrence of pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism was largely confined to the early preg-nancy period, probably related to the adoption of thromboprophylaxis, a lower rate of Cesarean section, and early mobilization.

Professionals’ experiences and attitudes toward use of Traditional Chinese Medicine in hospice palliative inpatient care units: A multicenter survey in Taiwan

Yu-Jia Lin,Hsiao-Ting Chang,Ming-Hwai Lin,Ru-Yih Chen,Ping-Jen Chen,Wen-Yuan Lin,Jyh-Gang Hsieh,Ying-Wei Wang,Chung-Chieh Hu,Yi-Sheng Liou,Tai-Yuan Chiu,Chun-Yi Tu,Yi-Jen Wang,Bo-Ren Cheng,Tzeng-Ji Ch 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.2

Background: Medical staff may have difficulties in using conventional medicine to manage symptoms among terminally ill patients, including adverse effects of the treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as a complementary or alternative medicine, and has been increasingly used in the field of palliative medicine in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of and attitudes toward using TCM among palliative care professionals, and to provide preliminary information about its use in palliative care. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted in eight inpatient hospice wards in Taiwan between December 2014 and February 2016. The questionnaire was self-administered, and was analyzed with descriptive statistics including Pearson’s Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test. Results: A total of 251 palliative care professionals responded to the questionnaire, of whom 89.7% and 88.9% believed that the use of TCM could improve the physical symptoms and quality of life in terminally ill patients, respectively. Overall, 59.8%, of respondents suggested that TCM had rare side effects, and 58.2% were worried that TCM could affect the liver and kidney function of patients. In total, 89.7% and 88.0% of professionals agreed there were no suitable clinical practice guidelines and educational programs, respectively, for TCM use in palliative care. Conclusions: Most of the respondents agreed there was insufficient knowledge, skills-training, and continuing education on the use of TCM in terminally ill patients in Taiwan. These results show that to address patient safety considerations, guidelines about use of TCM in palliative care should be established.