• Genes and Genomics
• /
• v.40 no.11
• /
• pp.1169-1180
• /
• 2018

Cave shrimps from the genera Typhlatya, Stygiocaris and Typhlopatsa (TST complex) comprises twenty cave-adapted taxa, which mainly occur in the anchialine environment. Anchialine habitats may undergo drastic environmental fluctuations, including spatial and temporal changes in salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen content. Previous studies of crustaceans from anchialine caves suggest that they have possessed morphological, behavioral, and physiological adaptations to cope with the extreme conditions, similar to other cave-dwelling crustaceans. However, the genetic basis has not been thoroughly explored in crustaceans from anchialine habitats, which can experience hypoxic regimes. To test whether the TST shrimp-complex hypoxia adaptations matched adaptive evolution of mitochondrial OXPHOS genes. The 13 OXPHOS genes from mitochondrial genomes of 98 shrimps and 1 outgroup were examined. For each of these genes was investigated and compared to orthologous sequences using both gene (i.e. branch-site and Datamonkey) and protein (i.e. TreeSAAP) level approaches. Positive selection was detected in 11 of the 13 candidate genes, and the radical amino acid changes sites scattered throughout the entire TST complex phylogeny. Additionally, a series of parallel/convergent amino acid substitutions were identified in mitochondrial OXPHOS genes of TST complex shrimps, which reflect functional convergence or similar genetic mechanisms of cave adaptation. The extensive occurrence of positive selection is suggestive of their essential role in adaptation to hypoxic anchialine environment, and further implying that TST complex shrimps might have acquired a finely capacity for energy metabolism. These results provided some new insights into the genetic basis of anchialine hypoxia adaptation.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.223-232
• /
• 2021

Objective: To investigate the improvement in utilization efficiency of total mixed ration (TMR) on Tibetan plateau, TMR were ensiled with different additives. Methods: A total of 150 experimental silos were prepared in a completely randomized design to evaluate the six treatments: i) control (without additive), ii) Lactobacillus buchneri (L. buchneri), iii) acetic acid, iv) propionic acid, v) 1,2-propanediol; and vi) 1-propanol. After 90 days of ensiling, silos were opened for fermentation quality and in vitro analysis, and then subjected to an aerobic stability test for 14 days. Results: Treating with L. buchneri, acetic acid, 1,2-propanediol and 1-propanol decreased propionic acid contents and yeast number, whereas increased (p<0.05) pH, acetic acid and ethanol contents in the fermented TMR. Despite increased dry matter (DM) loss in the TMRs treated with 1,2-propanediol and 1-pronanol, additives did not affect (p>0.05) all in vitro parameters including gas production at 24 h (GP24), GP rate constant, potential GP, in vitro DM digestibility and in vitro neutral detergent fibre digestibility. All additives improved the aerobic stability of ensiled TMR to different extents. Specially, aerobic stability of the ensiled TMR were substantially improved by L. buchneri, acetic acid, 1,2-propanediol, and 1-propanol, indicated by stable pH and lactic acid content during the aerobic stability test. Conclusion: L. buchneri, acetic acid, 1,2-propanediol, and 1-propanol had no adverse effect on in vitro digestibility, while ensiling TMR with the additives produced more acetic acid and ethanol, subsequently resulting in improvement of aerobic stability. There is a potential for some fermentation boosting additives to enhance aerobic stability of fermented TMR on Tibetan plateau.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.64 no.2
• /
• pp.297-308
• /
• 2021

Objective : Shunt infection is a common complication while treating hydrocephalus. The antibiotic-impregnated shunt catheter (AISC) was designed to reduce shunt infection rate. A meta-analysis was conducted to study the effectiveness of AISCs in reduction of shunt infection in terms of age, follow-up time and high-risk patient population. Methods : This study reviewed literature from three databases including PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library (from 2000 to March 2019). Clinical studies from controlled trials for shunt operation were included in this analysis. A subgroup analysis was performed based on the patient's age, follow-up time and high-risk population. The fixed effect in RevMan 5.3 software (Cochrane Collaboration) was used for this meta-analysis. Results : This study included 19 controlled clinical trials including 10105 operations. The analysis demonstrated that AISC could reduce the infection rate in shunt surgery compared to standard shunt catheter (non-AISC) from 8.13% to 4.09% (odds ratio [OR], 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-0.58; p=0.01; I2=46%). Subgroup analysis of different age groups showed that AISC had significant antimicrobial effects in all three groups (adult, infant, and adolescent). Follow-up time analysis showed that AISC was effective in preventing early shunt infections (within 6 months after implant). AISC is more effective in high-risk population (OR, 0.24;95% CI, 0.14-0.40; p=0.60; I2=0%) than in general patient population. Conclusion : The results of meta-analysis indicated that AISC is an effective method for reducing shunt infection. We recommend that AISC should be considered for use in infants and high-risk groups. For adult patients, the choice for AISC could be determined based on the treatment cost.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.250-260
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to verify the impact of government subsidies and technological innovation on the business performance of Chinese cultural industry enterprises. Therefore, this study takes 238 listed cultural industry enterprises in China from 2015 to 2020 as the object, collects 1175 samples, and uses Stata16 software for empirical analysis. The analysis results are as follows. First, government subsidies have a positive impact on the business performance of Chinese cultural industry enterprises. Second, government subsidies have a positive impact on the scientific and technological innovation of Chinese cultural industry enterprises. Third, scientific and technological innovation has a positive impact on the business performance of Chinese cultural industry enterprises. Fourth, scientific and technological innovation plays a partially mediating role in the relationship between government subsidies and business performance of Chinese cultural industry enterprises. Based on the research results, measures to improve the business performance of cultural industry companies are as follows. First, establish a modern cultural industry market system. Second, the government should expand financial and tax support for cultural industry companies. Third, promote the integration of cultural industries with scientific and technological innovation.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.545-558
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to explore a prediction model for accurately predicting Financial Difficulties of Chinese Cultural Industry Enterprises through Traditional Statistics and Machine Learning. To construct the prediction model, the data of 128 listed Cultural Industry Enterprises in China are used. On the basis of data groups composed of 25 explanatory variables, prediction models using Traditional Statistical such as Discriminant Analysis and logistic as well as Machine Learning such as SVM, Decision Tree and Random Forest were constructed, and Python software was used to evaluate the performance of each model. The results show that the Random Forest model has the best prediction performance, with an accuracy of 95%. The SVM model was followed with 93% accuracy. The Decision Tree model was followed with 92% accuracy.The Discriminant Analysis model was followed with 89% accuracy. The model with the lowest prediction effect was the Logistic model with an accuracy of 88%. This shows that Machine Learning model can achieve better prediction effect than Traditional Statistical model when predicting financial distress of Chinese cultural industry enterprises.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.682-697
• /
• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Tibetan tea is a kind of dark tea, due to the inherent complexity of natural products, the chemical composition and beneficial effects of Tibetan tea are not fully understood. The objective of this study was to unravel the composition of Tibetan tea using knowledge-guided multilayer network (KGMN) techniques and explore its potential antioxidant and hypolipidemic mechanisms in mice. MATERIALS/METHODS: The C57BL/6J mice were continuously gavaged with Tibetan tea extract (T group), green tea extract (G group) and ddH2O (H group) for 15 days. The activity of total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in mice was detected. Transcriptome sequencing technology was used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the antioxidant and lipid-lowering effects of Tibetan tea in mice. Furthermore, the expression levels of liver antioxidant and lipid metabolism related genes in various groups were detected by the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method. RESULTS: The results showed that a total of 42 flavonoids are provisionally annotated in Tibetan tea using KGMN strategies. Tibetan tea significantly reduced body weight gain and increased T-AOC and SOD activities in mice compared with the H group. Based on the results of transcriptome and qPCR, it was confirmed that Tibetan tea could play a key role in antioxidant and lipid lowering by regulating oxidative stress and lipid metabolism related pathways such as insulin resistance, P53 signaling pathway, insulin signaling pathway, fatty acid elongation and fatty acid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to use computational tools to deeply explore the composition of Tibetan tea and revealed its potential antioxidant and hypolipidemic mechanisms, and it provides new insights into the composition and bioactivity of Tibetan tea.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.10
• /
• pp.1619-1627
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the characteristics of left ventricular remodeling in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) with those of patients with essential hypertension (EH) and healthy controls (HCs). Materials and Methods: This prospective study enrolled 35 patients with PA, in addition to 35 age- and sex-matched patients with EH, and 35 age- and sex-matched HCs, all of whom underwent comprehensive clinical and cardiac MRI examinations. The analysis of variance was used to detect the differences in the characteristics of left ventricular remodeling among the three groups. Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to determine the relationships between left ventricular remodeling and the physiological variables. Results: The left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (EDVi) (mean ± standard deviation [SD]: 85.1 ± 13.0 mL/m² for PA, 75.9 ± 14.3 mL/m² for EH, and 77.3 ± 12.8 mL/m² for HC; p = 0.010), left ventricular end-systolic volume index (ESVi) (mean ± SD: 35.2 ± 9.8 mL/m² for PA, 30.7 ± 8.1 mL/m² for EH, and 29.5 ± 7.0 mL/m² for HC; p = 0.013), left ventricular mass index (mean ± SD: 65.8 ± 16.5 g/m² for PA, 56.9 ± 12.1 g/m² for EH, and 44.1 ± 8.9 g/m² for HC; p < 0.001), and native T1 (mean ± SD: 1224 ± 39 ms for PA, 1201 ± 47 ms for EH, and 1200 ± 44 ms for HC; p = 0.041) values were higher in the PA group compared to the EH and HC groups. Multivariable linear regression demonstrated that log (plasma aldosterone-to-renin ratio) was independently correlated with EDVi and ESVi. Plasma aldosterone was independently correlated with native T1. Conclusion: Patients with PA showed a greater degree of ventricular hypertrophy and enlargement, as well as myocardial fibrosis, compared to those with EH. Cardiac MRI T1 mapping can detect left ventricular myocardial fibrosis in patients with PA.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.502-512
• /
• 2021

Objective: To objectively and subjectively assess and compare the characteristics of monoenergetic images [MEI (+)] and polyenergetic images (PEI) acquired by dual-energy CT (DECT) of patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the images and data of 42 patients with breast cancer who had undergone dual-phase contrast-enhanced DECT from June to September 2019. One standard PEI, five MEI (+) in 10-kiloelectron volt (keV) intervals (range, 40-80 keV), iodine density (ID) maps, iodine overlay images, and Z effective (Z_eff) maps were reconstructed. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were calculated. Multiple quantitative parameters of the malignant breast lesions were compared between the arterial and the venous phase images. Two readers independently assessed lesion conspicuity and performed a morphology analysis. Results: Low keV MEI (+) at 40-50 keV showed increased CNR and SNR_{breast lesion} compared with PEI, especially in the venous phase ([CNR: 40 keV, 20.10; 50 keV, 14.45; vs. PEI, 7.27; p < 0.001], [SNR_{breast lesion}: 40 keV, 21.01; 50 keV, 16.28; vs. PEI, 10.77; p < 0.001]). Multiple quantitative DECT parameters of malignant breast lesions were higher in the venous phase images than in the arterial phase images (p < 0.001). MEI (+) at 40 keV, ID, and Z_eff reconstructions yielded the highest Likert scores for lesion conspicuity. The conspicuity of the mass margin and the visual enhancement were significantly better in 40-keV MEI (+) than in the PEI (p = 0.022, p = 0.033, respectively). Conclusion: Compared with PEI, MEI (+) reconstructions at low keV in the venous phase acquired by DECT improved the objective and subjective assessment of lesion conspicuity in patients with malignant breast lesions. MEI (+) reconstruction acquired by DECT may be helpful for the preoperative evaluation of breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.324-337
• /
• 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the different brain oxygen metabolism statuses in preeclampsia using magnetic resonance imaging and investigate the factors that affect cerebral oxygen metabolism in preeclampsia. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine women with preeclampsia (mean age 32.4 years; range, 18-44 years), 22 pregnant healthy controls (PHCs) (mean age 30.7 years; range, 23-40 years), and 40 non-pregnant healthy controls (NPHCs) (mean age 32.5 years; range, 20-42 years) were included in this study. Brain oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) values were computed using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) plus quantitative blood oxygen level-dependent magnitude-based OEF mapping (QSM + quantitative blood oxygen level-dependent imaging or QQ) obtained with a 1.5-T scanner. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate the differences in OEF values in the brain regions among the groups. Results: Among the three groups, the average OEF values were significantly different in multiple brain areas, including the parahippocampus, multiple gyri of the frontal lobe, calcarine, cuneus, and precuneus (all P-values were less than 0.05, after correcting for multiple comparisons). The average OEF values of the preeclampsia group were higher than those of the PHC and NPHC groups. The bilateral superior frontal gyrus/bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus had the largest size of the aforementioned brain regions, and the OEF values in this area were 24.2 ± 4.6, 21.3 ± 2.4, and 20.6 ± 2.8 in the preeclampsia, PHC, and NPHC groups, respectively. In addition, the OEF values showed no significant differences between NPHC and PHC. Correlation analysis revealed that the OEF values of some brain regions (mainly involving the frontal, occipital, and temporal gyrus) were positively correlated with age, gestational week, body mass index, and mean blood pressure in the preeclampsia group (r = 0.361-0.812). Conclusion: Using whole-brain VBM analysis, we found that patients with preeclampsia had higher OEF values than controls.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.901-910
• /
• 2022

Objective: This study aimed to assess the technical feasibility, efficacy, and safety of the safe triangular working zone (STWZ) approach applied in percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) for spinal metastases involving the posterior part of the vertebral body. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 87 patients who underwent PV for spinal metastasis involving the posterior part of the vertebral body, with or without the STWZ approach, from January 2019 to April 2022. Forty-nine patients (27 females and 22 males; mean age ± standard deviation [SD], 57.2 ± 11.6 years; age range, 31-76 years) were included in group A (with STWZ approach), accounting for 54 vertebrae. Thirty-eight patients (18 females and 20 males; 59.1 ± 10.9 years; 29-81 years) were included in group B (without STWZ approach), accounting for 57 vertebrae. Patient demographics, procedure-related variables, and pain relief as assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) were collected at different time points. Tumor recurrence in the vertebrae after PV was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: The STWZ approach was successful from T1 to L5 without severe complications. Cement filling was satisfactory in 47/54 (87.0%) and 25/57 (43.9%) vertebrae in groups A and B, respectively (p < 0.001). Cement leakage was not significantly different between groups A and B (p = 1.000). Mean VAS score ± SD before and 1 week and 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after PV were 7.6 ± 1.8, 4.2 ± 2.0, 2.7 ± 1.9, 1.9 ± 1.5, 1.7 ± 1.4, 1.7 ± 1.1, and 1.6 ± 1.3, respectively, in group A and 7.2 ± 1.7, 4.0 ± 1.3, 3.4 ± 1.6, 2.4 ± 1.2, 1.8 ± 1.0, 1.4 ± 0.5, and 1.7 ± 0.9, respectively, in group B. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a lower tumor recurrence rate in group A than in group B (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The STWZ approach may represent a new, safe, alternative/auxiliary approach to target the posterior part of the vertebral body in the PV for spinal metastases.