Thyroid-Associated Orbitopathy: Evaluating Microstructural Changes of Extraocular Muscles and Optic Nerves Using Readout-Segmented Echo-Planar Imaging-Based Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Huan-Huan Chen,Hao Hu,Wen Chen,Dai Cui,Xiao-Quan Xu,Fei-Yun Wu,Tao Yang 대한영상의학회 2020 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.21 No.3

Objective: We aimed to investigate the ability of readout-segmented echo-planar imaging (rs-EPI)-based diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in assessing the microstructural change of extraocular muscles (EOMs) and optic nerves in patients with thyroidassociated orbitopathy (TAO) as well as in evaluating disease activity. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 35 TAO patients and 22 healthy controls (HCs) who underwent pre-treatment rs-EPIbased DTI. Mean, axial, and radial diffusivity (MD, AD, and RD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the medial and lateral EOMs and optic nerve for each orbit were calculated and compared between TAO and HC groups and between active and inactive TAO groups. Factors such as age, sex, disease duration, mediation, and smoking history between groups were also compared. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of significant variables for disease activity. Results: Disease duration was significantly shorter in active TAOs than in inactive ones (p < 0.001). TAO patients showed significantly lower FA and higher MD, AD, and RD than HCs for both medial and lateral EOMs (p < 0.001), but not the AD value of lateral EOMs (p = 0.619). Active patients had significantly higher FA, MD, and AD than inactive patients for medial EOMs (p < 0.005), whereas only FA differed significantly in the lateral EOMs (p = 0.018). The MD, AD, and RD of optic nerves were significantly lower in TAO patients than HCs (p < 0.05), except for FA (p = 0.129). Multivariate analysis showed that the MD of medial EOMs and disease duration were significant predictors for disease activity. The combination of these two parameters showed optimal diagnostic efficiency for disease activity (area under the curve, 0.855; sensitivity, 68.4%; specificity, 96.9%). Conclusion: rs-EPI-based DTI is promising in assessing microstructural changes of EOMs and optic nerves and can help to indicate the disease activity of TAO, especially through the MD of medial EOMs.

Association Between TP53 Arg72Pro Polymorphism and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk: A Meta-analysis

Xu, Chang-Tao,Zheng, Fang,Dai, Xin,Du, Ji-Dong,Liu, Hao-Run,Zhao, Li,Li, Wei-Min Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Background: Previous studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk obtained controversial findings. This study aimed to quantify the strength of the association by meta-analysis. Methods: We searched PubMed and Wangfang databases for published studies on the association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk, using the pooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for assessment. Results: 10 studies with a total of 2,026 cases and 2,733 controls were finally included into this meta-analysis. Overall, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism was not associated with HCC risk (all P values greaterth HCC risk in Caucasians in three genetic models (For Pro versus Arg, OR = 1.20, 95%CI 1.03-1.41; For ProPro versus ArgArg, OR = 1.74, 95%CI 1.23-2.47; For ProPro versus ArgPro/ArgArg, OR = 1.85, 95%CI 1.33-2.57). However, there was no significant association between the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and HCC risk in East Asians (all P values greater than 0.10). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Meta-analyses of available data suggest an obvious association between the TP53 Arg72Pro and HCC risk in Caucasians. However, the TP53 Arg72Pro polymorphism may have a race-specific effect on HCC risk and further studies are needed to elucidate this possible effect.

Anesthetic Management and Outcomes of Endovascular Treatment of Basilar Artery Occlusion: Results From the ATTENTION Registry

Tao Chunrong,Yuan Guangxiong,Xu Pengfei,Wang Hao,Zhou Peiyang,Yi Tingyu,Li Kai,Cui Tao,Gao Jun,Li Rui,Sun Jun,Zhang Chao,Wang Li,Liu Tianlong,Song Jianlong,Yin Yamei,Nguyen Thanh N.,Li Qing,Hu Wei 대한뇌졸중학회 2023 Journal of stroke Vol.25 No.3

Background and Purpose To examine the clinical and safety outcomes after endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute basilar artery occlusion (BAO) with different anesthetic modalities. Methods This was a retrospective analysis using data from the Endovascular Treatment for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion (ATTENTION) registry. Patients were divided into two groups defined by anesthetic modality performed during EVT: general anesthesia (GA) or non-general anesthesia (non-GA). The association between anesthetic management and clinical outcomes was evaluated in a propensity score matched (PSM) cohort and an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) cohort to adjust for imbalances between the two groups. Results Our analytic sample included 1,672 patients from 48 centers. The anesthetic modality was GA in 769 (46.0%) and non-GA in 903 (54.0%) patients. In our primary analysis with the PSM-based cohort, non-GA was comparable to GA concerning the primary outcome (adjusted common odds ratio [acOR], 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82 to 1.25; <i>P</i>=0.91). Mortality at 90 days was 38.4% in the GA group and 35.8% in the non-GA group (adjusted risk ratio, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.08; <i>P</i>=0.44). In our secondary analysis with the IPTW-based cohort, the anesthetic modality was significantly associated with the distribution of modified Rankin Scale at 90 days (acOR: 1.45 [95% CI: 1.20 to 1.75]). Conclusion In this nationally-representative observational study, acute ischemic stroke patients due to BAO undergoing EVT without GA had similar clinical and safety outcomes compared with patients treated with GA. These findings provide the basis for large-scale randomized controlled trials to test whether anesthetic management provides meaningful clinical effects for patients undergoing EVT.

The Arabidopsis homolog of human minor spliceosomal protein U11-48K plays a crucial role in U12 intron splicing and plant development

Xu, Tao,Kim, Bo Mi,Kwak, Kyung Jin,Jung, Hyun Ju,Kang, Hunseung Oxford University Press 2016 Journal of experimental botany Vol.67 No.11

<P>The minor U12 introns are removed from precursor mRNAs by the U12 intron-specific minor spliceosome. Among the seven ribonucleoproteins unique to the minor spliceosome, denoted as U11/U12-20K, U11/U12-25K, U11/U12-31K, U11/U12-65K, U11-35K, U11-48K, and U11-59K, the roles of only U11/U12-31K and U11/U12-65K have been demonstrated in U12 intron splicing and plant development. Here, the functional role of the Arabidopsis homolog of human U11-48K in U12 intron splicing and the development of <I>Arabidopsis thaliana</I> was examined using transgenic knockdown plants. The <I>u11-48k</I> mutants exhibited several defects in growth and development, such as severely arrested primary inflorescence stems, formation of serrated leaves, production of many rosette leaves after bolting, and delayed senescence. The splicing of most U12 introns analyzed was impaired in the <I>u11-48k</I> mutants. Comparative analysis of the splicing defects and phenotypes among the <I>u11/u12-31k</I>, <I>u11-48k</I>, and <I>u11/12-65k</I> mutants showed that the severity of abnormal development was closely correlated with the degree of impairment in U12 intron splicing. Taken together, these results provide compelling evidence that the Arabidopsis homolog of human U11-48K protein, as well as U11/U12-31K and U11/U12-65K proteins, is necessary for correct splicing of U12 introns and normal plant growth and development.</P>

Global Synchronous Pulse Width Modulation of Distributed Inverters

Tao Xu,Feng Gao,Ran Wei 전력전자학회 2015 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.2015 No.6

Traditionally, the parallel-connected multi-leg inverter could assume the interleaved PWM to attenuate the switching frequency harmonics by using a single controller to generate the corresponding interleaved switching sequences. However, the interleaved PWM cannot be employed in multiple distributed inverters installed at different locations with their own controllers because the multiple independent controllers cannot work synchronously and the operational conditions are variable among the distributed inverters. The summed current harmonics of multiple distributed inverters could vary at the point of common coupling (PCC) and worsen the power quality of consumers. This paper therefore proposes a global synchronous pulse width modulation (GSPWM) method for the distributed inverters to attenuate the high frequency current harmonics at PCC meanwhile improve the PCC voltage quality. The optimal interleaved switching angles among the distributed inverters are calculated by fully considering the line impedances, the modulation indexes, the switching frequencies, the number of distributed systems and etc. Then the low frequency synchronous operation will synchronize the pulse width modulation sequences in the wanted variation range. Experimental results are presented to prove the validity of this method.

Topology Optimal Interior Permanent Magnet Machine to Improve the Utilization Ratio of Permanent Magnet

Xu Tao(도욱),Dianhai Zhang(장전해),Lixun Zhu(주립훈),Chang-Seop Koh(고창섭) 대한전기학회 2015 대한전기학회 학술대회 논문집 Vol.2015 No.7

Codon Optimization, Soluble Expression and Purification of PE_PGRS45 Gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Preparation of Its Polyclonal Antibody Protein

( Tao Xu ),( Minying Li ),( Chutong Wang ),( Meili Yuan ),( Xianyou Chang ),( Zhongqing Qian ),( Baiqing Li ),( Meiqun Sun ),( Hongtao Wang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2021 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.31 No.11

Studies have demonstrated that PE_PGRS45 is constitutively expressed under various environmental conditions (such as nutrient depletion, hypoxia, and low pH) of the in vitro growth conditions examined, indicating that PE_PGRS45 protein is critical to the basic functions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, there are few reports about the biochemical function and pathogenic mechanism of PE_PGRS45 protein. The fact that this M. tuberculosis gene is not easily expressed in E. coli may be mainly due to the high content of G+C and the use of unique codons. Fusion tags are indispensable tools used to improve the soluble expression of recombinant proteins and accelerate the characterization of protein structure and function. In the present study, His6, Trx, and His6-MBP were used as fusion tags, but only MBP-PE_PGRS45 was expressed solubly. The purification using His6-MBP tag-specific binding to the Ni column was easy to separate after the tag cleavage. We used the purified PE_PGRS45 to immunize New Zealand rabbits and obtained anti- PE_PGRS45 serum. We found that the titer of polyclonal antibodies against PE_PGR45 was higher than 1:256000. The result shows that purified PE_PGRS45 can induce New Zealand rabbits to produce high-titer antibodies. In conclusion, the recombinant protein PE_PGRS45 was successfully expressed in E. coli and specific antiserum was prepared, which will be followed by further evaluation of these specific antigens to develop highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tests for tuberculosis.

Synthesis and characterization of monodisperse yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) micro-crystals with rhombic dodecahedron

Xu, Tao,Yuan, Rui,Xu, Peng-Cheng,Pan, Dong-Jie,Yang, Woochul,Guo, Hai-Bo,Shen, Yu-Fang,Hu, Jian-Feng,Zhang, Zhi-Jun,Zhao, Jing-Tai Elsevier 2018 Journal of alloys and compounds Vol.762 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Uniform, monodisperse yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) rhombic dodecahedron micro-crystals were synthesized using coprecipitation and hydrothermal methods. The Na<SUB>2</SUB>SO<SUB>4</SUB> as a surfactant was helpful in improving the dispersity of the crystallites and forming well-faceted, micro-sized dodecahedral YAG crystallites. The effect of the reaction time and the solvent has also been studied. The crystal growth mechanism called dissolution/crystallization was determined by analyzing the experimental and simulated results. And the specific well-developed crystal facets in the {110} family have been demonstrated by the theoretical calculation. A higher integrated emission intensity can be achieved for the YAG:Ce crystallites by improving the phase purity, morphology with better developed dodecahedrons, and dispersion. Furthermore, a rather high luminous efficacy (LE = 104.14 lm/W) for the white LED fabricated using the YAG:Ce<SUP>3+</SUP> phosphor prepared in this work was realized. The correlation between the crystal growth, morphology and luminescence properties of YAG crystallites has been established, which exhibits a great importance for the synthesis and application of mono-dispersed YAG crystallites.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Uniform and monodisperse YAG rhombic dodecahedron micro-crystals were synthesized. </LI> <LI> The growth mechanism of YAG rhombic dodecahedron was studied through experimental and computational simulation. </LI> <LI> The correlation between the crystal growth, morphology and luminescence of YAG crystallites was established. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Cotton GhKCH2, a Plant-specific Kinesin, is Low-affinitive and Nucleotide-independent as Binding to Microtubule

Xu, Tao,Sun, Xuewei,Jiang, Shiling,Ren, Dongtao,Liu, Guoqin Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol 2007 Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology Vol.40 No.5

Kinesin is an ATP-driven microtubule motor protein that plays important roles in control of microtubule dynamics, intracellular transport, cell division and signal transduction. The kinesin superfamily is composed of numerous members that are classified into 14 subfamilies. Animal kinesins have been well characterized. In contrast, plant kinesins have not yet to be characterized adequately. Here, a novel plant-specific kinesin gene, GhKCH2, has been cloned from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fibers and biochemically identified by prokaryotic expression, affinity purification, ATPase activity assay and microtubule-binding analysis. The putative motor domain of GhKCH2, $M_{396-734}$ corresponding to amino acids Q396-N734 was fused with 6$\times$His-tag, soluble-expressed in E. coli and affinity-purified in a large amount. The biochemical analysis demonstrated that the basal ATPase activity of $M_{396-734}$ is not activated by $Ca^{2+}$, but stimulated 30-fold max by microtubules. The enzymatic activation is microtubule-concentration-dependent, and the concentration of microtubules that corresponds to half-maximum activation was about 11 ${\mu}M$, much higher than that of other kinesins reported. The cosedimentation assay indicated that $M_{396-734}$ could bind to microtubules in vitro whenever the nucleotide AMP-PNP is present or absent. As a plant-specific microtubule-dependent kinesin with a lower microtubule-affinity and a nucleotide-independent microtubule-binding ability, cotton GhKCH2 might be involved in the function of microtubules during the deposition of cellulose microfibrils in fibers or the formation of cell wall.

Amperometric Morphine Detection Using Pt-Co Alloy Nanowire Array-modified Electrode

Tao, Manlan,Xu, Feng,Li, Yueting,Xu, Quanqing,Chang, Yanbing,Wu, Zaisheng,Yang, Yun-Hui Korean Chemical Society 2010 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.31 No.7

Pt-Co alloy nanowire array was directly synthesized by electrochemical deposition with polycarbonate template at -1.0V and subsequent chemical etching of the template. The use of Pt-Co alloy nanowire array-modified electrode (Pt-Co NAE) for the determination of morphine (MO) is described. The morphology of the Pt-Co alloy nanowire array has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy disperse X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis), respectively. The resulting Pt-Co NAE offered a linear amperometric response for morphine ranging from $2.35\times10^{-5}$ to $2.39\times10^{-3}$ M with a detection limit of $7.83\times10^{-6}$ M at optimum conditions. This sensor displayed high sensitivity and long-term stability.