Patterns of Cancer-Related Risk Behaviors Among Construction Workers in Hong Kong: A Latent Class Analysis Approach

Xia, Nan,Lam, Wendy,Tin, Pamela,Yoon, Sungwon,Zhang, Na,Zhang, Weiwei,Ma, Ke,Fielding, Richard Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2020 Safety and health at work Vol.11 No.1

Background: Hong Kong's construction industry currently faces a manpower crisis. Blue-collar workers are a disadvantaged group and suffer higher levels of chronic diseases, for example, cancer, than the wider population. Cancer risk factors are likely to cluster together. We documented prevalence of cancer-associated lifestyle risk behaviors and their correlates among Hong Kong construction workers. Methods: Data were collected from workers at 37 railway-related construction worksites throughout Hong Kong during May 2014. Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unbalanced nutrition intake, and physical inactivity were included in the analysis. Latent class analysis and multivariable logistic regression were performed to identify the patterns of risk behaviors related to cancer, as well as their impact factors among construction workers in Hong Kong. Results: Overall, 1,443 workers participated. Latent class analysis identified four different behavioral classes in the sample. Fully adjusted multiple logistic regression identified age, gender, years of Hong Kong residency, ethnicity, educational level, and living status differentiated behavioral classes. Conclusion: High levels of lifestyle-related cancer-risk behaviors were found in most of the Hong Kong construction workers studied. The present study contributes to understanding how cancer-related lifestyle risk behaviors cluster among construction workers and relative impact factors of risk behaviors. It is essential to tailor health behavior interventions focused on multiple risk behaviors among different groups for further enlarging the effects on cancer prevention.

A framework for carrying out train safety evaluation and vibration analysis of a trussed-arch bridge subjected to vessel collision

He Xia,Chaoyi Xia,Nan Zhang,Qin Ma,Xuan Wu 국제구조공학회 2016 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.59 No.4

Safety is the prime concern for a high-speed railway bridge, especially when it is subjected to a collision. In this paper, an analysis framework for the dynamic responses of train-bridge systems under collision load is established. A multi-body dynamics model is employed to represent the moving vehicle, the modal decomposition method is adopted to describe the bridge structure, and the time history of a collision load is used as the external load on the train-bridge system. A (180+216+180) m continuous steel trussedarch bridge is considered as an illustrative case study. With the vessel collision acting on the pier, the displacements and accelerations at the pier-top and the mid-span of the bridge are calculated when a CRH2 high-speed train running through the bridge, and the influence of bridge vibration on the running safety indices of the train, including derailment factors, offload factors and lateral wheel/rail forces, are analyzed. The results demonstrate that under the vessel collision load, the dynamic responses of the bridge are greatly enlarged, threatening the running safety of high-speed train on the bridge, which is affected by both the collision intensity and the train speed.

Effects of microRNA-135a on the epithelial–mesenchymal transition, migration and invasion of bladder cancer cells by targeting GSK3β through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Xia-Wa Mao,Jia-Quan Xiao,Zhong-Yi Li,Yi-Chun Zheng,Nan Zhang 생화학분자생물학회 2018 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.50 No.-

This study investigated the effects of microRNA-135a (miR-135a) targeting of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) on the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration and invasion of bladder cancer (BC) cells by mediating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. BC and adjacent normal tissues were collected from 165 BC patients. Western blotting and quantitative realtime PCR were used to detect the expression of GSK3β, β-catenin, cyclinD1, E-cadherin, vimentin and miR-135a in BC tissues and cells. Cells were assigned to blank, negative control (NC), miR-135a mimics, miR-135a inhibitors, small interfering RNA (siRNA)-GSK3β or miR-135a inhibitors+siRNA-GSK3β groups. miR-135a, β-catenin, cyclinD1 and vimentin expression increased, while GSK3β and E-cadherin expression decreased in BC tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. Compared with the blank and NC groups, the expression of miR-135a, β-catenin, cyclinD1 and vimentin was higher, and cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor growth were increased in the miR-135a mimics and siRNA-GSK3β groups. These groups showed an opposite trend in GSK3β and E-cadherin expression and cell apoptosis. The miR-135a inhibitors group was inversely correlated with the blank and NC groups. It was concluded that miR-135a accelerates the EMT, invasion and migration of BC cells by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway through the downregulation of GSK3β expression.

Dynamic analysis of a train-bridge system under multi-support seismic excitations

Nan Zhang,He Xia,Guido De Roeck 대한기계학회 2010 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.24 No.11

A numerical solution for the dynamic responses of a train-bridge interaction system subjected to multi-support seismic loads was studied. The train vehicle was modeled by the rigid-body dynamics method, and the bridge was modeled by the finite element method. The vertical and lateral wheel-rail interaction forces were defined according to the wheel-rail corresponding assumption and the simplified Kalker creep theory. Three-dimensional seismic accelerations were incorporated using the large mass method. In a case study, the dynamic responses were simulated for a high-speed train traversing a steel truss cable-stayed bridge with different seismic intensities and different train speeds, and train safety was evaluated.

Effects of biochar and Trichoderma on bacterial community diversity in continuous cropping soil

Xia Cao,Ning Zhang,Xiaoyu Zeng,Qinglin Lan,Nan Ma,Chuncheng Wu 한국원예학회 2022 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.63 No.1

Soil acidifi cation has become a serious issue in protected production in northern China as a consequence of many years ofcontinuous cropping. Besides aff ecting the growth and quality of vegetables, soil acidifi cation also restricts the sustainabledevelopment of vegetables grown in protected environments. A single application of biochar or Trichoderma can repair thesoil environment, optimize the microbial community structure, reduce plant diseases, and promote plant growth. However,it is not known whether biochar combined with Trichoderma has a synergistic eff ect on these parameters. In this study,long-term continuous cropping of cucumbers in a greenhouse was used to study the eff ect of biochar and Trichoderma onmicro-ecological environmental changes in acidifi ed soil using Illumina sequencing. The results showed that the combinedapplication of biochar and Trichoderma promoted cucumber growth; signifi cantly enhanced root vitality and superoxidedismutase, peroxidase, and catalase activities in leaves; and reduced malondialdehyde content. In addition, soil physicaland chemical properties improved; cation exchange capacity, the activity of soil polyphenol oxidase and invertase, and thediversity of soil bacterial communities increased; and the structure and relative abundance of soil bacteria changed after thecombined application of biochar and Trichoderma . Correlation analysis of environmental factors showed that total nitrogenand soil pH had the greatest impact on bacterial communities. The metabolic function of soil bacteria was improved, andthe circulation of soil nutrients was increased as a consequence of the combined application of biochar and Trichoderma .

DL-RRT* Algorithm for Least Dose Path Re-planning in Dynamic Radioactive Environments

Nan Chao,Yong-kuo Liu,HONG XIA,Min-jun Peng,Abiodun Ayodeji 한국원자력학회 2019 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.51 No.3

One of the most challenging safety precautions for workers in dynamic, radioactive environments isavoiding radiation sources and sustaining low exposure. This paper presents a sampling-based algorithm,DL-RRT*, for minimum dose walk-path re-planning in radioactive environments, expedient for occupationalworkers in nuclear facilities to avoid unnecessary radiation exposure. The method combines theprinciple of random tree star (RRT*) and D* Lite, and uses the expansion strength of grid search strategyfrom D* Lite to quickly find a high-quality initial path to accelerate convergence rate in RRT*. The algorithminherits probabilistic completeness and asymptotic optimality from RRT* to refine the existingpaths continually by sampling the search-graph obtained from the grid search process. It can not only beapplied to continuous cost spaces, but also make full use of the last planning information to avoid globalre-planning, so as to improve the efficiency of path planning in frequently changing environments. Theeffectiveness and superiority of the proposed method was verified by simulating radiation field undervarying obstacles and radioactive environments, and the results were compared with RRT* algorithmoutput.

Dynamic analysis of coupled wind-train-bridge system considering tower shielding and triangular wind barriers

Nan Zhang,Guanghui Ge,He Xia,Xiaozhen Li 한국풍공학회 2015 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.21 No.3

A method for analyzing the coupled wind-vehicle-bridge system is proposed that also considers the shielding effect of the bridge tower with triangular wind barriers. The static wind load and the buffeting wind load for both the bridge and the vehicle are included. The shielding effects of the bridge tower and the triangular wind barriers are incorporated by taking the surface integral of the wind load. The inter-history iteration is adopted to solve the vehicle-bridge dynamic equations with time-varying external loads. The results show that after installing the triangular wind barriers in the area of the bridge tower, the bridge response and the vehicle safety factors change slightly. The peak value of the train car body acceleration is significantly reduced when the wind barrier size is increased.

Dynamic analysis of coupled wind-train-bridge system considering tower shielding and triangular wind barriers

Zhang, Nan,Ge, Guanghui,Xia, He,Li, Xiaozhen Techno-Press 2015 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.21 No.3

A method for analyzing the coupled wind-vehicle-bridge system is proposed that also considers the shielding effect of the bridge tower with triangular wind barriers. The static wind load and the buffeting wind load for both the bridge and the vehicle are included. The shielding effects of the bridge tower and the triangular wind barriers are incorporated by taking the surface integral of the wind load. The inter-history iteration is adopted to solve the vehicle-bridge dynamic equations with time-varying external loads. The results show that after installing the triangular wind barriers in the area of the bridge tower, the bridge response and the vehicle safety factors change slightly. The peak value of the train car body acceleration is significantly reduced when the wind barrier size is increased.

White Matter Microstructural Similarity and Diversity of Functional Constipation and Constipation-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

( Jiaofen Nan ),( Liangliang Zhang ),( Qiqiang Chen ),( Nannan Zong ),( Peiyong Zhang ),( Xing Ji ),( Shaohui Ma ),( Yuchen Zhang ),( Wei Huang ),( Zhongzhou Du ),( Yongquan Xia ),( Ming Zhang ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회(구 대한소화관운동학회) 2018 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.24 No.1

Background/Aims The Rome III criteria separated chronic constipation into functional constipation (FC) and constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), but some researchers questioned the partitioning and treated both as distinct parts of a continuum. The study aims to explore the similarity and diversity of brain white matter between FC and IBS-C. Methods The voxel-wise analysis of the diffusion parameters was used to quantify the white matter changes of female brains in 18 FC patients and 20 IBS-C patients compared with a comparison group with 19 healthy controls by tract-based spatial statistics. The correlations between diffusive parameters and clinical symptoms were evaluated using a Pearson’s correlation. Results In comparison to healthy controls, FC patients showed a decrease of fractional anisotropy (FA) and an increase of radial diffusivity (RD) in multiple major fibers encompassing the corpus callosum (CC, P = 0.001 at peak), external capsule (P = 0.002 at peak), corona radiata (CR, P = 0.001 at peak), and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF, P = 0.002 at peak). In contrast, IBS-C patients showed FA and RD aberrations in the CC (P = 0.048 at peak). Moreover, the direct comparison between FC and IBS-C showed only RD differences in the CR and SLF. In addition, FA and RD in the CC were significantly associated with abdominal pain for all patients, whereas FA in CR (P = 0.016) and SLF (P = 0.040) were significantly associated with the length of time per attempt and incomplete evacuation separately for FC patients. Conclusion These results may improve our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying different types of constipation. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2018;24:107-118)

Recent advances in control technologies for non-point source pollution with nitrogen and phosphorous from agricultural runof: current practices and future prospects

Yinfeng Xia,Ming Zhang,Daniel C. W. Tsang,Nan Geng,Debao Lu,Lifang Zhu,Avanthi Deshani Igalavithana,Pavani Dulanja Dissanayake,Jörg Rinklebe,Xiao Yang,옥용식 한국응용생명화학회 2020 Applied Biological Chemistry (Appl Biol Chem) Vol.63 No.1

Eutrophication of natural water is a universal problem. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from agricultural runoff are the main sources of nutrient input, provided that emissions from industrial point sources (IPS) are under control. Therefore, it is of great environmental importance to reduce pollution associated with agricultural runoff as a means of regulating eutrophication levels in natural water. Numerous methods proposed for treating agricultural runoff can be classified into three categories: source control, process control, and end treatment. In this review, major technologies for N and P control from agricultural runoff are summarized along with discussion of newly proposed technologies such as biochar biomimetics and microbial catalyst. Because agricultural runoff (from farmlands to receiving waters) is a complicated pollution process, it is difficult to regulate the nutrients discharged via such process. This review will thus offer a comprehensive understanding on the overall process of agricultural runoff and eutrophication to help establish control strategies against highly complicated agricultural non-point sources.