Molecular characterization of chemosensory protein genes in Bactrocera minax (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Wang Zhao‐Xiang,Qi Zhen‐hua,Chen Jian,Wang Fu‐Lian,Gui Lian‐You,Zhang Guo‐Hui 한국곤충학회 2021 Entomological Research Vol.51 No.7

Chemoreception is of great importance for survival of insects. Chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are believed to be involved in the perireceptor events of chemosensory system in many insect species, but this has not been clarified in the citrus fruit fly, Bactrocera minax, a serious dipteran pest of citrus crops. Previous studies indicated that four CSP genes were identified in many fly speices in Diptera. In the present study, we also identified four CSP genes in B. minax,namely BminCSP1–4, from a transcriptome database. All CSP proteins encoded by these genes bear the typical hallmarks of the CSP family: an N-terminal signal peptide and the four highly conserved cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis comparing with other dipteran CSPs indicated that dipteran CSPs may evolved from three ancestral CSP genes, and revealed the sequence diversities of BminCSPs and showed that BminCSP1–4 are clustered in separate groups, indicating the possibility of their contrasting function in B. minax. Furthermore, the tissue distribution of the four CSP genes in adult B. minax was analyzed by real-time quantitiative PCR. The results demonstrated that BminCSP3 are significantly transcriptionally enriched in antennae; BminCSP4 expressed primarily in heads; BminCSP1 and BminCSP2 showed high expressions in different tissues, such as antennae, abdomens and wings. Based on these findings, the different implications for the functions of BminCSPs are discussed. This study will offer a significant indication for further functional studies of the CSPs in B. minax

Experiment and molecular simulation for liquid phase adsorption of triethylenetetramine on activated carbon: equilibrium, kinetics, thermodynamics and molecular behavior

Qi Zhang,Xiang C. Ma,Chang He,Qing L. Chen,Bing J. Zhang 한국탄소학회 2023 Carbon Letters Vol.33 No.7

Modification of the surface of raw activated carbon using chemical solvents can significantly improve the adsorption performance of activated carbon. Triethylenetetramine is one of the most important chemical solvents used to modify raw activated carbon for formaldehyde removal indoor. We conducted the liquid impregnation experiments at different initial concentrations, temperatures, adsorbent dosage and time ranges to fully investigate the adsorption of triethylenetetramine on the surface of raw activated carbon for modification. We found that the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-first-order kinetic model fit quite well with the experimental data and the R2 are 0.9883 and 0.9954, respectively. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacity is 166.67 mg/g. The change in Gibbs free energy (ΔG0), enthalpy change (ΔH0) and entropy change (ΔS0) were also calculated to study the direction and driving force of the liquid adsorption process. In order to understand the adsorption process at the molecular level, a new activated carbon model based on the actual physical and chemical properties of activated carbon was carefully established in the Materials Studio to simulate the liquid-phase adsorption. The pore structure, elemental composition, functional group content, density, pore volume, and porosity of the activated carbon model converge close to the actual activated carbon and the adsorption isotherms obtained from the simulation agree well with the experimental results. The results show that the adsorption of triethylenetetramine on activated carbon is a spontaneous, endothermic and monolayer physical adsorption process.

Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer in Rural Areas of Wuhan China: a Matched Case-control Study

Zhang, Bin,Zhou, Ai-Fen,Zhu, Chang-Cai,Zhang, Ling,Xiang, Bing,Chen, Zhong,Hu, Rong-Hua,Zhang, Ya-Qi,Qiu, Lin,Zhang, Yi-Ming,Xiong, Chao-Du,Du, Yu-Kai,Shi, Yu-Qin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Cervical cancer is a serious public health problem in developing countries. We investigated possible risk factors for cervical cancer in rural areas of Wuhan China using a matched case-control study with 33 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and 132 healthy women selected from the same area as matched controls. A questionnaire, which included questions about general demography conditions, environmental and genetic factors, the first sexual intercourse, first marriage age, age at first pregnancy, pregnancy first child's age, female personal health history, social psychological factors, dietary habits, smoking and alcohol status and other living habits was presented to all participants. At the same time, HPV infection of every participant was examined in laboratory testing. Results showed HPV infection (P<0.000, OR=23.4) and pregnancy first child's age (P<0.000, OR=13.1) to be risk factors for cervical cancer. Menopause (P=0.003, OR=0.073) was a protective factor against cervical cancer. However, there was no indication of associations of environmental (drinking water, insecticide, disinfectant) genetic (cancer family history), or life-style factors (smoking status, alcohol status, physical training, sleep quality), including dietary habits (intake of fruit and vegetable, meat, fried food, bean products and pickled food) or social psychological factors with cervical cancer. The results suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in Chinese rural women may be associated with HPV infection, menopause and the pregnancy first child's age.

Causal Relations between Exposome and Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Hong-Qi Li,Yi-Wei Feng,Yu-Xiang Yang,Xin-Yi Leng,Prof Can Zhang,Shi-Dong Chen,Kevin Kuo,Shu-Yi Huang,Xue-Qing Zhang,Yi Dong,Xiang Han,Xin Cheng,Mei Cui,Lan Tan,Qiang Dong,Jin-Tai Yu 대한뇌졸중학회 2022 Journal of stroke Vol.24 No.2

Background and Purpose To explore the causal relationships of elements of the exposome with ischemic stroke and its subtypes at the omics level and to provide evidence for stroke prevention. Methods We conducted a Mendelian randomization study between exposure and any ischemic stroke (AIS) and its subtypes (large-artery atherosclerotic disease [LAD], cardioembolic stroke [CE], and small vessel disease [SVD]). The exposure dataset was the UK Biobank involving 361,194 subjects, and the outcome dataset was the MEGASTROKE consortium including 52,000 participants. Results We found that higher blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP: odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.04; diastolic BP: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.05; pulse pressure: OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.06), atrial fibrillation (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.25), and diabetes (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.18) were significantly associated with ischemic stroke. Importantly, higher education (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.79) decreased the risk of ischemic stroke. Higher systolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.10), pulse pressure (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.14), diabetes (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.45), and coronary artery disease (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.00) could cause LAD. Atrial fibrillation could cause CE (OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.71 to 2.11). For SVD, higher systolic BP (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.07), diastolic BP (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.12), and diabetes (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.36) were causal factors. Conclusions The study revealed elements of the exposome causally linked to ischemic stroke and its subtypes, including conventional causal risk factors and novel protective factors such as higher education.

Genetic Diversity of a Chinese Native Chicken Breed, Bian Chicken, Based on Twenty-nine Microsatellite Markers

Ding, Fu-Xiang,Zhang, Gen-Xi,Wang, Jin-Yu,Li, Yuan,Zhang, Li-Jun,Wei, Yue,Wang, Hui-Hua,Zhang, Li,Hou, Qi-Rui Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2010 Animal Bioscience Vol.23 No.2

The level of genetic differentiation and genetic structure in a Chinese native chicken breed, Bian chicken, and two controlled chicken populations (Jinghai chicken and Youxi chicken in China) were analysed based on 29 microsatellite markers. A total of 166 distinct alleles were observed across the 3 breeds, and 32 of these alleles (19.3%) were unique to only 1 breed. Bian chicken carried the largest number of private alleles at 15 (46.9%), followed by the Jinghai chicken with 12 private alleles (37.5%). The average polymorphism information content (0.5168) and the average expected heterozygote frequency (0.5750) of the Bian chicken were the highest, and those of the Jinghai chicken were 0.4915 and 0.5505, respectively, which were the lowest. Among 29 microsatellite loci, there were 15 highly informative loci in Bian chicken, and the other 14 were reasonably informative loci. The highly informative loci in Jinghai chicken and Youxi chicken were 17 and 14 respectively. Significant deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed at several locus-breed combinations, showing a deficit of heterozygotes in many cases. As a whole, genetic differentiation among the breeds estimated by the fixation index (Fst) were at 6.7% (p<0.001). The heterozygote deficit within population (Fis) was 22.2% (p<0.001), with the highest (0.249) in Bian chicken and lowest (0.159) in Youxi chicken. These results serve as an initial step in the plan for genetic characterization and conservation of the Chinese chicken genetic resource of Bian, as well as Jinghai and Youxi chickens.

Photo-induced charge separation properties of NiO/Bi2O3 heterojuctions with efficient simulated solar-driven photocatalytic performance

Qi Yang,Junbo Zhong,Jian zhang Li,Jiufu Chen,Zhen Xiang,Tao Wang,Minjiao Li 한국물리학회 2017 Current Applied Physics Vol.17 No.4

The inherent drawbacks of Bi2O3 greatly limit the practical application of Bi2O3, thus it is crucial to boost the photocatalytic activity of Bi2O3, and therefore NiO was employed to couple with Bi2O3. In this paper, NiO/Bi2O3 heterostructures with improved sunlight driven -photocatalytic activity were constructed by a pore impregnating method. The samples were studied by Brunauer -Emmett- Teller (BET) method, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UVeVis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), surface photovoltage (SPV) spectroscopy and electron spin-resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of NiO/Bi2O3 heterostructures toward discoloration of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solutions were evaluated. The results display that the presence of NiO in the heterojuctions increases the specific surface area, the absorbance in the visible light region, the separation rate of the photo-induced charge pairs and the formation of $O2 in the photocatalytic system.

Fermentation Optimization and Industrialization of Recombinant Saccharopolyspora erythraea Strains for Improved Erythromycin A Production

Xiang Zou,Chang-fa Chen,Xia-chang Qi,Jiang-chao Qian,Ju Chu,Ying-ping Zhuang,Si-liang Zhang,Wei Zeng,Wan-jun Li 한국생물공학회 2010 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.15 No.6

Improvement of Erythromycin A (Er-A) production and purity by metabolic engineering of the industrial erythromycin-producing strains Saccharopolyspora erythraea strians ZL1004 and ZL1007, in which the amounts of tailoring enzymes EryK (a P450 hydroxylase)and EryG (an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent O-methyltransferase)for biotransformation of Erythromycin D to Er-A were modulated, was performed in a 50 L fermentor. Addition of 15 g/L of corn steep liquor to the medium increased Er-A production; maximum Er-A production was 8,196 U/mL at 191 h, which was 81.8% higher than that of control (4,507 U/mL at 184 h). Er-B impurities were completely eliminated, whereas Er-C impurities were only 153 U/mL at 191 h. Analysis of intra- and extracellular metabolites and key enzyme activities in central carbon metabolism revealed that the pool of TCA cycle intermediates was enhanced by the addition of corn steep liquor and induced an increase in erythromycin biosynthesis. There were no significant differences between strains ZL1004 and ZL1007 regarding Er-A production and impurity accumulation. Compared to wild type strain,Er-A production was improved by 23.9% while Er-C was reduced by 83.9% and Er-B was completely eliminated. Furthermore, fermentation of recombinant strain ZL1004was successfully scaled up from laboratory scale (50 L fermentor) to industrial scale (25 and 132 m3), with similar levels of Er-A production and purity obtained.

The evaluation of online course of Traditional Chinese Medicine for Medical Bachelor, Bachelor of Surgery international students during the COVID-19 epidemic period

Zhang Qing,He Yi-Jing,Zhu Yu-Hang,Dai Min-Chen,Pan Man-Man,Wu Jia-Qi,Zhang Xian,Gu Ying-Er,Wang Fang-Fang,Xu Xiang-Rong,Qu Fan 한국한의학연구원 2020 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.9 No.3

Background: During the COVID-19 epidemic period, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) course for international students of Medical Bachelor, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program in Zhejiang University has shifted from traditional classroom to online environment. This study aimed to investigate MBBS international students’ perception on online TCM course, and to assess the online learning efficacy. Methods: A total of 84 MBBS international students attending course of “Basic Traditional Chinese Medicine” during 2020 academic years at Zhejiang University were enrolled in this study. A quantitative questionnaire was respectively completed before and after the TCM course using a pretest–post-test design. By means of two online learning platforms, Learning in ZJU and DingTalk, TCM course was broadcast in both live and archived format to students. Results: A total of 48 participants completed both baseline and follow-up questionnaires. The majority of participants preferred face-to-face classroom learning (26, 54.17% of total) when compared with online learning. Students felt that the course had brought in much benefits (mean 3.88, SD 0.87), and they were satisfied with the course content (mean 3.83, SD 0.95). Students’ TCM related knowledge and their behaviors of discussion and consulting were significantly improved by online TCM course (all P < 0.001). Students’ awareness of the necessity of TCM education and their feeling of difficulty in learning TCM were significantly strengthened (P = 0.042, 0.025, respectively). Conclusion: Online learning is a good alternative for TCM course of MBBS international students when classroom learning is suspended, whereas it cannot replace the need for onsite and face-to-face learning.

Research on Product Design Modeling for Improving the Usability of Golf Putters

Qi YuZhe,Kim-KieSu,Sun Xu,Zhang Xiang 한국콘텐츠학회 2022 한국콘텐츠학회 ICCC 논문집 Vol.2022 No.12

Efficacy and Toxicity of Anti-VEGF Agents in Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: a Meta-analysis of Prospective Clinical Studies

Qi, Wei-Xiang,Fu, Shen,Zhang, Qing,Guo, Xiao-Mao Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.19

Background: Blocking angiogenesis by targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway to inhibit tumor growth has proven to be successful in treating a variety of different metastatic tumor types, including kidney, colon, ovarian, and lung cancers, but its role in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is still unknown. We here aimed to determine the efficacy and toxicities of anti-VEGF agents in patients with CRPC. Materials and Methods: The databases of PubMed, Web of Science and abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology up to March 31, 2014 were searched for relevant articles. Pooled estimates of the objective response rate (ORR) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rate (decline ${\geq}50%$) were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (version 2.2.064) software. Median weighted progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) time for anti-VEGF monotherapy and anti-VEGF-based doublets were compared by two-sided Student's t test. Results: A total of 3,841 patients from 19 prospective studies (4 randomized controlled trials and 15 prospective nonrandomized cohort studies) were included for analysis. The pooled ORR was 12.4% with a higher response rate of 26.4% (95%CI, 13.6-44.9%) for anti-VEGF-based combinations vs. 6.7% (95%CI, 3.5-12.7%) for anti-VEGF alone (p=0.004). Similarly, the pooled PSA response rate was 32.4% with a higher PSA response rate of 52.8% (95%CI: 40.2-65.1%) for anti-VEGF-based combinations vs. 7.3% (95%CI, 3.6-14.2%) for anti-VEGF alone (p<0.001). Median PFS and OS were 6.9 and 22.1 months with weighted median PFS of 5.6 vs. 6.9 months (p<0.001) and weighted median OS of 13.1 vs. 22.1 months (p<0.001) for anti-VEGF monotherapy vs. anti-VEGF-based doublets. Conclusions: With available evidence, this pooled analysis indicates that anti-VEGF monotherapy has a modest effect in patients with CRPC, and clinical benefits gained from anti-VEGF-based doublets appear greater than anti-VEGF monotherapy.