Cloning, Expression, and Functional Characterization of the Dunaliella salina 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate Synthase Gene in Escherichia coli

Yi, Yi,Qiao, Dairong,Bai, Linhan,Xu, Hui,Li, Ya,Wang, Xiaolin,Cao, Yi The Microbiological Society of Korea 2007 The journal of microbiology Vol.45 No.2

5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase, EC 2.5.1.19) is the sixth enzyme in the shikimate pathway which is essential for the synthesis of aromatic amino acids and many secondary metabolites. The enzyme is widely involved in glyphosate tolerant transgenic plants because it is the primary target of the nonselective herbicide glyphosate. In this study, the Dunaliella salina EPSP synthase gene was cloned by RT-PCR approach. It contains an open reading frame encoding a protein of 514 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 54.6 KDa. The derived amino acid sequence showed high homology with other EPSP synthases. The Dunaliella salina EPSP synthase gene was expressed in Escherichia coli and the recombinant EPSP synthase were identified by functional complementation assay.

Genetic Polymorphisms of Glutathione S-transferase M1 and Prostate Cancer Risk in Asians: A Meta-analysis of 18 Studies

Hu, Zheng-Hui,Lin, Yi-Wei,Xu, Xin,Chen, Hong,Mao, Ye-Qing,Wu, Jian,Zhu, Yi,Xu, Xiang-Lai,Xie, Li-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.1

Background: Many studies have investigated associations between the glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) null polymorphism and risk of prostate cancer, but the impact of GSTM1 in people who live in Asian countries is still unclear owing to inconsistencies across results. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Ovid and CNKI databases for studies of associations between the GSTM1 null genotype and risk of prostate cancer in people who live in Asian countries, and estimated summary odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Results: A total of 18 case-control studies with 2,172 cases and 3,258 controls were included in this meta-analysis, which showed the GSTM1 null genotype to be significantly associated with increased risk of prostate cancer in people who live in Asian countries (random-effects OR=1.74, 95% CI1.44-2.09, P<0.001). Similar results were found in East Asians (OR=1.41; 95% CI: 1.12-1.78; P=0.004) and Caucasians in Asia (OR=2.19; 95% CI: 1.85-2.60; P<0.001). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusions: This meta-analysis of available data suggested that the GSTM1 null genotype does contribute to increased risk of prostate cancer in people who live in Asian countries.

No Association Between Tea Consumption and Risk of Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Meta-analysis of Epidemiological Studies

Hu, Zheng-Hui,Lin, Yi-Wei,Xu, Xin,Chen, Hong,Mao, Ye-Qing,Wu, Jian,Xu, Xiang-Lai,Zhu, Yi,Li, Shi-Qi,Zheng, Xiang-Yi,Xie, Li-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.3

Objective: To evaluate the association between tea consumption and the risk of renal cell carcinoma. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus between 1970 and November 2012. Two evaluators independently reviewed and selected articles based on predetermined selection criteria. Results: Twelve epidemiological studies (ten case-control studies and two cohort studies) were included in the final analysis. In a meta-analysis of all included studies, when compared with the lowest level of tea consumption, the overall relative risk (RR) of renal cell carcinoma for the highest level of tea consumption was 1.03 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89-1.21). In subgroup meta-analyses by study design, there was no significant association between tea consumption and renal cell carcinoma risk in ten case-control studies using adjusted data (RR=1.08, 95% CI 0.84-1.40). Furthermore, there was no significant association in two cohort studies using adjusted data (RR=0.95, 95% CI 0.81-1.12). Conclusion: Our findings do not support the conclusion that tea consumption is related to decreased risk of renal cell carcinoma. Further prospective cohort studies are required.

Prostate Cancer Risk in Relation to a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Insulin-like Growth Factor-binding Protein-3 (IGFBP3) Gene: a Meta-analysis

Mao, Ye-Qing,Xu, Xin,Lin, Yi-Wei,Chen, Hong,Hu, Zheng-Hui,Xu, Xiang-Lai,Zhu, Yi,Wu, Jian,Zheng, Xiang-Yi,Qin, Jie,Xie, Li-Ping Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) has been identified as a putative tumor suppressor with multifunctional roles in the IGF axis. Recently, there have been a growing body of studies investigating the relation between the IGFBP3 A-202C polymorphism, circulating IGFBP3 and prostate cancer risk, but their outcomes varied leading to controversy. Hence, it is necessary to perform a meta-analysis covering all eligible studies to shed a light on the association of IGFBP3 A-202C and cancer risk. Finally, we included a total of 11 relevant articles between 2003 and 2010 covering 14 case-control studies including 9,238 cases and 8,741 controls for our analysis. Our results showed that A-202C was a marginal risk factor of prostate cancer (allele contrast: OR=1.08, 95% CI :1.01-1.16; dominant model: OR=1.11, 95% CI :1.01-1.22; heterozygote codominant model: OR=1.11, 95% CI :1.03-1.18; homozygote contrast: OR=1.19, 95% CI :1.03-1.37). Stratification analysis revealed that sample size and control source were two major heterogeneous meta-factors especially in the recessive model (source: Population-based control group :p=0.30,I2=16.7%, Hospital-based control group: p=0.20, I2=30.3%; sample size: Small: p=0.22,I2= 32.8%, Medium: p=0.09,I2=48%, Large p=0.60,I2=0.0%); However, contrary to previous findings, no significance was found in racial subgroups. No significant publication bias was found in our analysis. Considering the robustness of the results and the discrepancy among some studies, there might be some unsolved confounding factors, and further more critical large studies are needed for confirmation.

Bioactive enmein-type 6,7-seco-ent-kaurane diterpenoids: natural products, synthetic derivatives and apoptosis related mechanism

Haonan Li,Baojia Sun,Mingying Wang,Xu Hu,Xiang Gao,Sheng-tao Xu,Yongnan Xu,Jin-yi Xu,Hui-Ming Hua,Da-Hong Li 대한약학회 2018 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.41 No.11

Diterpenoids are important and widely distributed natural compounds with various biological effects, including antitumor, anti-inflammatory and so on. Great efforts have been put in phytochemistry research on diterpenoids. A number of structural modified derivatives and pharmacophore incorporated hybrids were also designed and synthesized with promising therapeutic effects. Among the hopefuls, enmein-type 6,7-seco-ent-kaurane diterpenoids with unique ring system and stereogenic centers exhibit attractive activities. Based on their lead-like properties, enmein-type diterpenoids are suitable for further medicinal study. The derivatives were biologically evaluated and showed promising activities, which warranted in-depth research for further understanding. In this review, the natural bioactive enmein-type diterpenoids and the synthetic derivatives were comprehensively summarized.

Ordinal Optimization Theory Based Planning for Clustered Wind Farms Considering the Capacity Credit

Yi Wang,Ning Zhang,Chongqing Kang,Qianyao Xu,Hui Li,Jinyu Xiao,Zhidong Wang,Rui Shi,Shuai Wang 대한전기학회 2015 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.10 No.5

Wind power planning aims to locate and size wind farms optimally. Traditionally, wind power planners tend to choose the wind farms with the richest wind resources to maximize the energy benefit. However, the capacity benefit of wind power should also be considered in large-scale clustered wind farm planning because the correlation among the wind farms exerts an obvious influence on the capacity benefit brought about by the combined wind power. This paper proposes a planning model considering both the energy and the capacity benefit of the wind farms. The capacity benefit is evaluated by the wind power capacity credit. The Ordinal Optimization (OO) Theory, capable of handling problems with non-analytical forms, is applied to address the model. To verify the feasibility and advantages of the model, the proposed model is compared with a widely used genetic algorithm (GA) via a modified IEEE RTS-79 system and the real world case of Ningxia, China. The results show that the diversity of the wind farm enhances the capacity credit of wind power.

Performances of Prognostic Models in Stratifying Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer Receiving First-line Chemotherapy: a Validation Study in a Chinese Cohort

Xu, Hui,Zhang, Xiaopeng,Wu, Zhijun,Feng, Ying,Zhang, Cheng,Xie, Minmin,Yang, Yahui,Zhang, Yi,Feng, Chong,Ma, Tai The Korean Gastric Cancer Association 2021 Journal of gastric cancer Vol.21 No.3

Purpose: While several prognostic models for the stratification of death risk have been developed for patients with advanced gastric cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy, they have seldom been tested in the Chinese population. This study investigated the performance of these models and identified the optimal tools for Chinese patients. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with metastatic or recurrent gastric adenocarcinoma who received first-line chemotherapy were eligible for inclusion in the validation cohort. Their clinical data and survival outcomes were retrieved and documented. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration curves were used to evaluate the predictive ability of the models. Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted for patients in different risk groups divided by 7 published stratification tools. Log-rank tests with pairwise comparisons were used to compare survival differences. Results: The analysis included a total of 346 patients with metastatic or recurrent disease. The median overall survival time was 11.9 months. The patients were different into different risk groups according to the prognostic stratification models, which showed variability in distinguishing mortality risk in these patients. The model proposed by Kim et al. showed relative higher predicting abilities compared to the other models, with the highest χ² (25.8) value in log-rank tests across subgroups, and areas under the curve values at 6, 12, and 24 months of 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-0.72), 0.60 (0.54-0.65), and 0.63 (0.56-0.69), respectively. Conclusions: Among existing prognostic tools, the models constructed by Kim et al., which incorporated performance status score, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, and tumor differentiation, were more effective in stratifying Chinese patients with gastric cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy.

Albumin-to-Fibrinogen Ratio as an Independent Prognostic Parameter in Untreated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Retrospective Study of 191 Cases

Yi-Xin Zou,Jia Qiao,Hua-Yuan Zhu,Rui-Nan Lu,Yi Xia,Lei Cao,Wei Wu,Hui Jin,Wen-Jie Liu,Jin-Hua Liang,Jia-Zhu Wu,Li Wang,Lei Fan,Wei Xu,Jian-Yong Li 대한암학회 2019 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.51 No.2

Purpose Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is one of the most frequent type of B-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders and chronic inflammation takes part in the development of CLL. However, there has been no valid immune biomarker to predict the prognosis of untreated CLL patients. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, we analyzed the clinical correlations and prognostic value of albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) detected at diagnosis in 191 CLL patients. Results The cut-off value of AFR was 9.7 calculated by X-tile. Patients who were more than 65 years old were often accompanied by low level of AFR (p < 0.001). Survival analysis showed that patients with low level of AFR had shorter overall survival (OS) than patients with high level of AFR (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis illustrated that AFR had a negative impact on OS (p=0.003) and was independent of parameters involved in CLL international prognostic index and other prognostic markers such as CD38 and ZAP-70. Conclusion These data provide a comprehensive view of AFR and shows that AFR at diagnosis is an adverse prognostic factor in untreated CLL patients.

Improving the quality of breast ultrasound examination performed by inexperienced ultrasound doctors with synchronous tele-ultrasound: a prospective, parallel controlled trial

Yi-Kang Sun,Xiao-Long Li,Qiao Wang,Bo-Yang Zhou,An-Qi Zhu,Chuan Qin,Le-Hang Guo,Hui-Xiong Xu 대한초음파의학회 2022 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.41 No.2

Purpose: This prospective study explored the value of synchronous tele-ultrasound (US) to aid doctors inexperienced in US with breast US examinations.Methods: In total, 99 patients were enrolled. Two trainee doctors who were inexperienced in US (trainee A [TA] and trainee B [TB]) and one doctor who was an expert in US completed the US examinations sequentially. TA completed the US examinations independently, while TB was instructed by the expert using synchronous tele-US. Subsequently, the expert performed on-site US examinations in person. Separately, they selected the most clinically significant nodule as the target nodule. Consistency with the expert and image quality were compared between TA and TB to evaluate tele-US. Furthermore, TB and the patients evaluated tele-US through questionnaires.Results: TB demonstrated higher consistency with the expert in terms of target nodule selection than TA (93.3% vs. 63.3%, P<0.001). TB achieved good inter-observer agreement (ICC, >0.75) with the expert on five US features (5/9, 55.6%), while TA only did so for one (1/9, 11.1%) (P=0.046). TB’s image quality was higher than TA’s in gray value, time gain compensation, depth, color Doppler adjustment, and the visibility of key information (P=0.018, P<0.001, P<0.001, P=0.033, and P=0.006, respectively). The comprehensive assessment score was higher for TB than for TA (3.96±0.82 vs. 3.09±0.87, P<0.001). Tele-US was helpful in 69.7% of US examinations and had a training effect in 68.0%. Furthermore, 63.6% of patients accepted tele-US and 60.6% were willing to pay.Conclusion: Tele-US can help doctors inexperienced in US to perform breast US examinations.

Fishbone Oscillations in the Experimental Advanced Superconductivity Tokamak

Liqing Xu,Liqun Hu,Yi Yuan,Yingying Li,Guo-Qiang Zhong,Hai-Qing Liu,Kaiyun Chen,Tong-Hui Shi,Yan-Min Duan 한국물리학회 2018 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.72 No.6

A fishbone oscillation was observed in the neutral beam injection plasma at Experimental Ad- vanced Superconductivity Tokamak (EAST). This m = 1/n = 1 (m, n: poloidal, toroidal mode numbers, respectively) typical internal kink mode travels in the ion-diamagnetism direction in the poloidal section with a rotation speed close to the ion diamagnetic drift frequency. A high thermal plasma beta and high amounts of energetic ions are necessary for the mode to develop. Fishbone oscillations can expel heavy impurities in the core, which favors sustaining a high-performance plasma. The born frequency of the fishbone oscillation is the ion diamagnetic drift frequency and the chirping down of the frequency during the initial growth phase is the result of a drop in ion- diamagnetic drift frequency. The excitation energy is thought to be due to the thermal plasma pressure gradient; however, the development of a fishbone oscillation is related to energetic ions. A fishbone oscillation was observed in the neutral beam injection plasma at Experimental Advanced Superconductivity Tokamak (EAST). This m = 1/n = 1 (m, n: poloidal, toroidal mode numbers, respectively) typical internal kink mode travels in the ion-diamagnetism direction in the poloidal section with a rotation speed close to the ion diamagnetic drift frequency. A high thermal plasma beta and high amounts of energetic ions are necessary for the mode to develop. Fishbone oscillations can expel heavy impurities in the core, which favors sustaining a high-performance plasma. The born frequency of the fishbone oscillation is the ion diamagnetic drift frequency and the chirping down of the frequency during the initial growth phase is the result of a drop in ion- diamagnetic drift frequency. The excitation energy is thought to be due to the thermal plasma pressure gradient; however, the development of a fishbone oscillation is related to energetic ions.