The Blood Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte Ratio Predicts Survival in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving Sorafenib

Zheng, You-Bing,Zhao, Wei,Liu, Bing,Lu, Li-Gong,He, Xu,Huang, Jian-Wen,Li, Yong,Hu, Bao-Shan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.9

Background and Aim: Increasing evidence correlates the presence of systemic inflammation with poor survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of the blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with advanced HCC who received sorafenib monotherapy. Methods: A total of sixty-five patients with advanced HCC, not eligible for locoregional therapy, treated with sorafenib were enrolled. Potential prognostic factors such as age, gender, tumoral characteristics, performance status and NLR were analyzed. Results: Median OS and TTP for the entire cohort were 10.0 months (95%CI, 7.6-12.3 months) and 4.5 months (95% CI, 4.0-4.9 months). The mean NLR at baseline was 2.89. The median OS of patients with a high NLR (>4) was 6.5 months (95%CI, 5.2-7.7 months) compared with 12.5 months (95%CI, 9.9-15.0) for patients with a normal NLR (${\leq}4$) (P=0.01). Age ${\leq}65$, NLR>4, extrahepatic metastases and vascular invasion were all predictors of poorer overall survival. Multivariate analysis showed that NLR > 4, vascular invasion and extrahepatic metastases were independent predictors of poorer overall survival. The median TTP of patients with a high NLR was 2.5 months (95%CI, 1.4-3.6 months) compared with 4.5 months (95%CI, 3.9-5.1 months) for patients with a normal NLR (P=0.012). Conclusions: High baseline NLR was associated with worse OS and TTP for patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib.

Benzochloroporphyrin Derivative Induced Cytotoxicity and Inhibition of Tumor Recurrence During Photodynamic Therapy for Osteosarcoma

Gong, Hai-Yang,Sun, Meng-Xiong,Hu, Shuo,Tao, Ying-Ying,Gao, Bo,Li, Guo-Dong,Cai, Zheng-Dong,Yao, Jian-Zhong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.5

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising cancer treatment modality that uses dye-sensitized photooxidation of biologic matter in target tissue. This study explored effects of the photosensitizer BCPD-17 during PDT for osteosarcoma. LM-8 osteosarcoma cells were treated with BCPD-17 and cell viability after laser irradiation was assessed in vitro with the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The effects of BCPD-17 during PDT recurrence were then examined on tumor-bearing mice in vivo. BCPD-17 had dosedependent cytotoxic effects on LM-8 osteosarcoma cells after laser irradiation which also had energy-dependent effects on the cells. The rate of local recurrence was reduced when marginal resection of mice tumors was followed by BCPD-17-mediated PDT. Our results indicated BCPD-17-mediated PDT in combination with marginal resection of tumors is a potentially new effective treatment for osteosarcoma.

QTL Analysis of Floral Traits of Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) under Well-Watered and Drought Stress Conditions

Song Ping Hu,Ying Zhou,Lin Zhang,Xu Dong Zhu,Zheng Gong Wang,Lin Li,Li Jun Luo,Qing Ming Zhou 한국유전학회 2009 Genes & Genomics Vol.31 No.2

Three floral traits, spikelet number per panicle (SNP), percentage of single exserted stigma (PSES) and dual exserted stigma (PDES) of a RI population with 185 lines under water stress and non-stress conditions for two years were investigated in a drought tolerance screening facility. ANOVA results showed high significance between years, lines, and water stress treatments, together with interactions among them in pairs. High phenotypic correlation was found between PSES and PDES (r=0.5424***). Based on a linkage map of 203 SSR markers, when under well-watered condition, six QTLs (qSNP-3b, qSNP-4, qSNP-11 qSNP-2, qSNP-5 and qSNP-9) were detected for SNP. Half of them had significant Q×E interactions. Three QTLs (qPSES-1, qPSES-2, qPSES-5) were found to influence PSES, including one locus (qPSES-2) having Q×E interaction. And three QTLs (qPDES-2, qPDES-5 and qPDES-8) were also detected to influence PDES. qPDES-5 was found to have Q×E interaction. The contribution rate of a single QTL varied from 0.80% to 8.83% for additive effect, and 1.86% to 15.25% for Q×E interactions. Under drought stress, six QTLs (qSNP-3a, qSNP-4, qSNP-7a, qSNP-7b, qSNP-8 and qSNP-9) were associated with SNP, including qSNP-3a and qSNP-4 with Q×E interaction. Three QTLs (qPSES-1, qPSES-10 and qPSES-12) were located on rice chromosome 1, 10 and 12 for PSES. Four QTLs (qPDES-1a, qPDES-1b, qPDES-4 and qPDES-9) were detected for PDES, including qPDES-9 with Q×E interaction. The additive effect of single QTL can only explain 1.16% to 5.84% of total variance while Q×E interaction of four loci can explain 4.25% to 11.54% of total variance for each locus. There were one to nine pairs of epistatic QTLs influencing SNP and stigma exsertion. The contribution rates of additive and epistatic effects seemed to be in a low magnitude for most cases (0.76%~9.92%) while a few QTLs or QTL pairs explained more than 10% of total variance. Some main effect QTL and epistasis were commonly detected among PSES and PDES, explaining the high positive correlation between them. Few QTLs were detected under both water stress and non-stress conditions, indicating that drought had severe impact on the genetic behaviors of both spikelet number and stigma exsertion.

Accelerating the Sweep3D for a Graphic Processor Unit

( Chun Ye Gong ),( Jie Liu ),( Hai Tao Chen ),( Jing Xie ),( Zheng Hu Gong ) 한국정보처리학회 2011 Journal of information processing systems Vol.7 No.1

As a powerful and flexible processor, the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) can offer a great faculty in solving many high-performance computing applications. Sweep3D, which simulates a single group time-independent discrete ordinates (Sn) neutron transport deterministically on 3D Cartesian geometry space, represents the key part of a real ASCI application. The wavefront process for parallel computation in Sweep3D limits the concurrent threads on the GPU. In this paper, we present multi-dimensional optimization methods for Sweep3D, which can be efficiently implemented on the fine-grained parallel architecture of the GPU. Our results show that the overall performance of Sweep3D on the CPU-GPU hybrid platform can be improved up to 4.38 times as compared to the CPU-based implementation.

Protective potential of Chinese herbal extracts against microsporidian Nosema ceranae, an emergent pathogen of western honey bees, Apis mellifera L.

Chen Xiuxian,Wang Shuai,Xu Yingying,Gong Hongri,Wu Yuqi,Chen Yanping,Hu Fuliang,Zheng Huoqing 한국응용곤충학회 2021 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.24 No.1

Nosema ceranae, a newly emergent parasite invading western honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), is indicated to threaten honey bee health at both individual and colony levels. However, the efficient and environmentallyfriendly treatments are quite limited at present. To find alternative medicine to control Nosema diseases, the effect of 8 types of herbal extracts against N. ceranae infection were screened under laboratory condition. Of which, 1% Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) decoction was found to significantly decrease N. ceranae spore numbers on 7 days post infection (dpi) and 13 dpi. Then, our results further revealed that A. paniculata decoction at doses ranging from 1% to 7% displayed significant efficient inhibition of Nosema spore proliferation and improved the infected bees’ survival rates in a dose-dependent manner. A. paniculata decoction was found to protect the gut tissues of infected workers from damage cause by N. ceranae, which might be due to the regu lation of the expression of certain genes in Wnt and JNK pathways, including armadillo, basket, frizzled2 and groucho. Additionally, our study suggested that A. paniculata decoction performed this Nosema spore-reducing potential over its two monomers, andrographolide and dehydrographolide. Taken together, this work enables us to better understand A. paniculata decoction’s potential to inhibit N. ceranae infection, thus providing a new guidance for developing applicable drugs to control Nosema diseases.

Resistance selection with cadmium and changes in the activities of antioxidases in Boettcherisca peregrina (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

Guo-Xing Wu,Xi Gao,Qing Tan,Zheng-Yue Li,Cui Hu,Gong-yin Ye 한국응용곤충학회 2014 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.17 No.2

In order to establish a physiological link between antioxidases and the resistance level of insects to cadmium(Cd), natural populations of Boettcherisca peregrina (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)weremaintained for 20 generationsand reared either on an uncontaminated diet or on a diet contaminated with cadmium (Cd) at a concentrationequivalent to the median lethal concentration (LC50) as determined every five generations. A relatively susceptiblestrain (S) and a Cd-resistant strain (R) were selected. Themetal accumulation, growth and development, reproduction,and antioxidant enzyme activities in these strains were analyzed. The results showed that R-strain organismshad enhanced juvenile survivorship, increased Cd accumulation, and increased adult female fecundity whencompared with S-strain. The larval enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathionereductase (GR), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in R-strain larvae were higher than those in S-strain larvaewhen fed diets with or without Cd. This indicates that Cd resistance in B. peregrina larvae is mediated by SOD,CAT, GR, and GST.