Liraglutide provides similar glycaemic control as glimepiride (both in combination with metformin) and reduces body weight and systolic blood pressure in Asian population with type 2 diabetes from China, South Korea and India: a 16‐week, randomize

Yang, W.,Chen, L.,Ji, Q.,Liu, X.,Ma, J.,Tandon, N.,Bhattacharyya, A.,Kumar, A.,Kim, K.&#x2010,W.,Yoon, K.&#x2010,H.,Bech, O. M.,Zychma, M. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011 DIABETES OBESITY AND METABOLISM Vol.13 No.1

<P> <B>Aim:</B> To assess and compare the efficacy and safety of liraglutide with those of glimepiride, both in combination with metformin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Asian population from China, South Korea and India.</P><P> <B>Methods:</B> A 16‐week, randomized, double‐blind, double‐dummy, four‐arm, active control trial was carried out. In total, 929 subjects with type 2 diabetes with a mean (±s.d.) age of 53.3 ± 9.5 years, HbA<SUB>1c</SUB> of 8.6 ± 1.0% and body weight of 68.1 ± 11.7 kg were randomized (liraglutide 0.6, 1.2 or 1.8 mg once daily or glimepiride 4 mg once daily all in combination with metformin: 1 : 1 : 1 : 1). One subject withdrew immediately after randomization and before exposure.</P><P> <B>Results:</B> HbA<SUB>1c</SUB> was significantly reduced in all groups compared with baseline. Treatment with liraglutide 1.2 and 1.8 mg was non‐inferior to glimepiride (mean HbA<SUB>1c</SUB> reduction: 1.36% points, 1.45% points and 1.39% points, respectively). No significant difference was shown in the percentage of subjects reaching American Diabetes Association HbA<SUB>1c</SUB> target <7% or American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists target ≤6.5% between liraglutide 1.2 and 1.8 mg and glimepiride. Liraglutide was associated with a 1.8–2.4 kg mean weight reduction, compared with a 0.1 kg mean weight gain with glimepiride. Liraglutide led to a significantly greater reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with glimepiride. Two subjects in the glimepiride group reported major hypoglycaemia while none in the liraglutide groups. Liraglutide was associated with about 10‐fold lower incidence of minor hypoglycaemia than glimepiride. Gastrointestinal disorders were the most common adverse events (AEs) for liraglutide, but were transient and resulted in few withdrawals.</P><P> <B>Conclusions:</B> In Asian subjects with type 2 diabetes, once‐daily liraglutide led to improvement in glycaemic control similar to that with glimepiride but with less frequent major and minor hypoglycaemia. Liraglutide also induced a significant weight loss and reduced SBP and was generally well tolerated. The most frequently reported AE was transient nausea. The effect of liraglutide in this Asian population is comparable to the effects seen in Caucasian, African American and Hispanic populations in global liraglutide phase 3 trials.</P>

MHD Instability Fluctuation Measurement on the HL-2A Tokamak by Using the HCN Laser Interferometer

Y. G. Li,Y. Zhou,Z. C. Deng,J. Yi,Y. Li,H. X. Wang,X. Q. Ji,W. Deng 한국물리학회 2014 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.65 No.8

The multichannel HCN laser interferometer has been routinely used to measure the electron density(ne) on the HL-2A tokamak for several years. In order to explore its capability for qualitativelyevaluating the Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuation in plasmas from the probing signal, weimplemented two important modifications on the hardware of channel #3 (r = −10.5 cm): (1) applicationof the high-response Schottky diode waveguide detector, and (2) utilization of a preamplifierwith a broad pass-band of up to 500 kHz so as not to filter the fluctuation component mixed withthe intermediate frequency (IF). Many MHD fluctuation phenomena, such as tearing modes (TMs),fishbones, long lived modes (LLMs), have been successfully detected by using the modified channel#3 in the HL-2A experimental campaign, and the results were quite coincident with those derivedfrom the magnetic probe and the soft X-ray systems. We propose to apply this novel approach tomore channels of the HCN laser interferometer.

Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 Thin Films on MgO and Sapphire Substrates

X.J. Zhao,S.L. Yan,C. Zhang,E. Chen,L. Fang,L. Ji,Q.L. Xie,S. Li,T.G. Zhou,X. Zhang,X. Zuo,Y.G. Li 한국물리학회 2006 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.48 No.5I

High quality Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8(Tl-2212) films were grown on MgO and sapphire substrates with CeO2 buffer layers. The CeO2 buffer layers were prepared by using an in-situ process with RF magnetron sputtering. The Tl-2212 thin films were then fabricated in a two-step process: deposition of the Tl-containing precursor film and low-temperature post-thallination of the precursor film. The resulting Tl-2212 films showed an excellent biaxial texture. The superconducting transition temperatures, Tc’s, of the films on MgO and sapphire were 103.4 and 104.2 K, respectively. The critical current densities Jc at 77 K and zero magnetic field were as high as 2.37 × 106 A/cm2 for the film on MgO and 1.76 × 106 A/cm2 on sapphire. A surface resistance of 725 μ at 10 GHz and 77 K was obtained in the Tl-2212 film on CeO2 buffered sapphire.

Phase Transition and Magnetic Transport Properties for Single Crystal of (Ca<SUB>0.42</SUB>Sr<SUB>0.58</SUB>)₃Ru₂O₇

Qing Ji,Ming Fu,Jianjian Ge,Bin Qian,Zhe Qu,Z.Q. Mao,X.S. Wu 한국자기학회 2008 한국자기학회 학술연구발표회 논문개요집 Vol.- No.-

Genetic Differentiation among Sheep Populations from Near-sea Mainland in East Asia

Lu, S.X.,Chang, H.,Du, L.,Tsunoda, K.,Ji, D.J.,Sun, W.,Yang, Z.P.,Chang, G.B.,Mao, Y.J.,Wang, Q.H.,Xu, M. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.10

Using the method of 'random sampling in typical colonies of the central area of the habitat', 60 Small-tailed Han sheep were obtained in Jining city, Shangdong province. The variations of Small-tailed Han sheep at 12 structural loci encoding blood proteins were detected by several electrophoresis techniques and their gene frequencies were then estimated. The same data of four other sheep populations from Near-sea Mainland in East Asia were cited for the analysis of genetic differentiation. The average heterozygosities of five populations, namely Kharkhorin sheep, Ulaanbaatar sheep, Small-tailed Han sheep, Hu sheep and Cham Tribe sheep were 0.3447, 0.3285, 0.3157, 0.3884 and 0.2300, respectively. The coefficient of gene differentiation among four populations, Kharkhorin sheep, Ulaanbaatar sheep, Small-tailed Han sheep and Hu sheep, was 0.045557, and that between these four breeds and Cham Tribe sheep was 0.088005, indicating that the level of gene differentiation among the former four sheep populations of Mongolian group was comparatively lower than that between Cham Tribe sheep and other four sheep populations. The origin of Cham Tribe sheep deserve further research. The documentary research on the evolution of Small-tailed Han sheep and Hu sheep from Mongolian sheep was further verified by the biochemical experiments in the study. It was reasonably deduced that Hu sheep, Small Tailed Han sheep and Cham Tribe sheep were decreasingly influenced by the bloodline of Mongolian sheep.

Effects of Dietary Metabolizable Energy and Lysine on CarcassCharacteristics and Meat Quality in Arbor Acres Broilers

Tang, M.Y.,Ma, Q.G.,Chen, X.D.,Ji, C. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2007 Animal Bioscience Vol.20 No.12

An experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of dietary metabolizable energy (ME) and lysine on carcass characteristics and meat quality in Arbor Acres (AA) broilers from 1 to 56 days of age. A total of 2,970 1-d-old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to nine dietary treatments (three ME levels in combination with three lysine levels), and dietary ME and lysine concentrations were formulated by varying corn, soybean meal, tallow, and L-lysine sulfate concentrations. Live body weight (BW), carcass weight (CW), dressing percent, breast muscle weight (BMW), yield of breast muscle, muscle color (CIE L*, a*, and b*), pH values 45 min and 24 h postmortem ($pH_{45}$, and $pH_{24}$), meat shear force value (SFV), and water loss rate (WLR) were evaluated. Results showed that live body weight and dressing percent increased (p<0.05) as dietary energy increased. Higher dietary lysine content improved breast muscle weight. Neither carcass weight nor yield of breast muscle was affected by dietary energy or lysine content. Higher ME increased the b* value (p = 0.067) and $pH_{24}$ value (p<0.05), whereas it decreased SFV (p<0.05) and WLR (p = 0.06). Only water loss rate was influenced (p<0.01) by dietary lysine, which was higher in broilers from the high lysine diet as compared to those from medium or low lysine diets. The $pH_{45}$ value and L* value of breast muscle were not affected by ME or lysine. Significant interaction of dietary ME and lysine was found on a* value of breast muscle. These results indicated that dietary ME and lysine had important effects on breast muscle growth and meat quality, however their effects were different. Different concentrations of dietary ME and lysine might be considered to improve meat quality.

Protective Efficacy of Alpha-lipoic Acid against AflatoxinB1-induced Oxidative Damage in the Liver

Li, Y.,Ma, Q.G.,Zhao, L.H.,Guo, Y.Q.,Duan, G.X.,Zhang, J.Y.,Ji, C. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.6

Alpha-lipoic acid (${\alpha}$-LA) is not only involved in energy metabolism, but is also a powerful antioxidant that can protect against hepatic oxidative stress induced by some drugs, toxins, or under various physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here, we investigated the effect of ${\alpha}$-LA against liver oxidative damage in broilers exposed to aflatoxin $B_1$ ($AFB_1$). Birds were randomly divided into four groups and assigned different diets: basal diet, 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA supplementation in basal diet, diet containing 74 ${\mu}g/kg$ $AFB_1$, and 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA supplementation in diet containing 74 ${\mu}g/kg$ $AFB_1$, for 3 weeks. The results revealed that the addition of 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA protected against the liver function damage of broilers induced by chronic low dose of $AFB_1$ as estimated by a significant (p<0.05) change in levels of plasma total protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase and the activities of liver glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. The histopathological analysis also showed that liver tissues were injured in the $AFB_1$ diet, but this effect was alleviated by the addition of 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA. Additionally, $AFB_1$ induced a profound elevation of oxidative stress in birds, as indicated by an increase in malondialdehyde level, a decrease in glutathione peroxidase activity and a depletion of the glutathione content in the liver. All of these negative effects were inhibited by treatment with ${\alpha}$-LA. Our results suggest that the inhibition of $AFB_1$-induced excess production of lipid peroxides and the maintenance of intracellular antioxidant status may play important roles in the protective effects of ${\alpha}$-LA against $AFB_1$-induced oxidative damage in the liver.

Overexpression of codA gene confers enhanced tolerance to abiotic stresses in alfalfa

Li, H.,Wang, Z.,Ke, Q.,Ji, C.Y.,Jeong, J.C.,Lee, H.S.,Lim, Y.P.,Xu, B.,Deng, X.P.,Kwak, S.S. Gauthier-Villars ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2014 Plant physiology and biochemistry Vol.85 No.-

We generated transgenic alfalfa plants (Medicago sativa L. cv. Xinjiang Daye) expressing a bacterial codA gene in chloroplasts under the control of the SWPA2 promoter (referred to as SC plants) and evaluated the plants under various abiotic stress conditions. Three transgenic plants (SC7, SC8, and SC9) were selected for further characterization based on the strong expression levels of codA in response to methyl viologen (MV)-mediated oxidative stress. SC plants showed enhanced tolerance to NaCl and drought stress on the whole plant level due to induced expression of codA. When plants were subjected to 250 mM NaCl treatment for 2 weeks, SC7 and SC8 plants maintained higher chlorophyll contents and lower malondialdehyde levels than non-transgenic (NT) plants. Under drought stress conditions, all SC plants showed enhanced tolerance to drought stress through maintaining high relative water contents and increased levels of glycinebetaine and proline compared to NT plants. Under normal conditions, SC plants exhibited increased growth due to increased expression of auxin-related IAA genes compared to NT plants. These results suggest that the SC plants generated in this study will be useful for enhanced biomass production on global marginal lands, such as high salinity and arid lands, yielding a sustainable agricultural product.

From BASE-ASIA toward 7-SEAS: A satellite-surface perspective of boreal spring biomass-burning aerosols and clouds in Southeast Asia

Tsay, S.C.,Hsu, N.C.,Lau, W.K.M.,Li, C.,Gabriel, P.M.,Ji, Q.,Holben, B.N.,Judd Welton, E.,Nguyen, A.X.,Janjai, S.,Lin, N.H.,Reid, J.S.,Boonjawat, J.,Howell, S.G.,Huebert, B.J.,Fu, J.S.,Hansell, R.A.,S Pergamon Press ; Elsevier [distribution] 2013 Atmospheric environment Vol.78 No.-

In this paper, we present recent field studies conducted by NASA's SMART-COMMIT (and ACHIEVE, to be operated in 2013) mobile laboratories, jointly with distributed ground-based networks (e.g., AERONET, http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/ and MPLNET, http://mplnet.gsfc.nasa.gov/) and other contributing instruments over northern Southeast Asia. These three mobile laboratories, collectively called SMARTLabs (cf. http://smartlabs.gsfc.nasa.gov/, Surface-based Mobile Atmospheric Research &Testbed Laboratories) comprise a suite of surface remote sensing and in-situ instruments that are pivotal in providing high spectral and temporal measurements, complementing the collocated spatial observations from various Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. A satellite-surface perspective and scientific findings, drawn from the BASE-ASIA (2006) field deployment as well as a series of ongoing 7-SEAS (2010-13) field activities over northern Southeast Asia are summarized, concerning (i) regional properties of aerosols from satellite and in-situ measurements, (ii) cloud properties from remote sensing and surface observations, (iii) vertical distribution of aerosols and clouds, and (iv) regional aerosol radiative effects and impact assessment. The aerosol burden over Southeast Asia in boreal spring, attributed to biomass burning, exhibits highly consistent spatial and temporal distribution patterns, with major variability arising from changes in the magnitude of the aerosol loading mediated by processes ranging from large-scale climate factors to diurnal meteorological events. Downwind from the source regions, the tightly coupled-aerosol-cloud system provides a unique, natural laboratory for further exploring the micro- and macro-scale relationships of the complex interactions. The climatic significance is presented through large-scale anti-correlations between aerosol and precipitation anomalies, showing spatial and seasonal variability, but their precise cause-and-effect relationships remain an open-ended question. To facilitate an improved understanding of the regional aerosol radiative effects, which continue to be one of the largest uncertainties in climate forcing, a joint international effort is required and anticipated to commence in springtime 2013 in northern Southeast Asia.