• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2399-2403
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• 2012

Objective: To compare expression level of serum tumor associated materials (TAM) with several conventional serum tumor biomarkers, eg., carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen19-9 (CA19-9), carbohydrate antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), alpha-fetoprotein(AFP), in selected solid tumors. Methods: Patients diagnosed histologically or cytologically with liver, breast, esophageal, gastric, colorectal or pancreatic cancers were enrolled into this study. After diagnosis, the level of TAM was determined by chemical colorimetry, and levels of conventional tumor markers was measured by chemiluminescence methods. Results: A total of 560 patients were enrolled into this study. No statistically significant difference was detected in TAM and the above mentioned tumor biomarkers in terms of their positivity and negativity ( P>0. 05). Conclusions: Detection of TAM in liver, breast, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer patients demonstrates a good accordance with CEA, CA199, CA153, and AFP, thus suggesting that further study is warranted to verify whether TAM could be a surrogate for these conventional biomarkers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5179-5183
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• 2013

The cerebellar hemangioblastoma (CHB) has an abundant blood supply and deep anatomical location. Complete surgical resection is generally very difficult. This study investigated the safety and effectiveness of preoperative embolization followed by surgical resection of CHB in a large cohort of patients. A database of 125 CHB patients with surgical resection in Beijing Tiantan Hospital between July 2006 and July 2012 was reviewed. Of those, 46 cases (experimental group) received preoperative embolization, 79 cases (control group) underwent surgery without embolization. Patient demographics, tumor size, duration of surgery, blood loss, blood transfusion, complications and follow-up results were collected and analyzed retrospectively. In the experimental group, the Kamofsky score (KS) was 80-100 in 40 cases (86.9%), 40-70 in 4 cases (8.7%), and below 40 in 2 cases (4.3%). Among 31 cases with follow-up, KS was 80-100 in 27 cases (87.1%), 40-70 in 2 cases (6.5%), and 0 in 2 cases (6.5%). In control group, KS was 80 -100 in 65 cases (82.2%), 40-70 in 6 cases (7.6%), 10-30 in 3 cases (3.8%), and 0 in 3 cases (3.8%). Among 53 cases with follow-up, KS was 80-100 in 44 cases (83.0%), 40-70 in 4 cases (7.5%), 10-30 in 1 case (1.9%), and 0 in 4 cases (7.5%). There were statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in tumor size, duration of surgery, amount of intraoperative blood loss and transfusion (p<0.01). However, complications (p=0.31) and follow-up results (p=0.76) showed no significant differences between groups. Selective preoperative embolization of those CHB patients with richer blood supply, higher hemorrhage risk, is safe and effective, and is a reliable adjuvant therapy for complete surgical resection of CHB.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1352-1359
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• 2020

Objective: Lactobacilli in rabbit intestine is rare and its function in rabbit gut health is not fully understood. The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus casei for suckling rabbits. Methods: Two healthy 5-day-old suckling rabbits with similar weights from each of 12 New Zealand White litters were selected and disturbed to control group and treatment group. All rabbits were artificially fed. The treatment group had been supplemented with live Lactobacillus casei in the milk from the beginning of the trial to 13 days of age. At 15 days of age, healthy paired rabbits were slaughtered to collect intestinal samples. Results: i) Oral administration of Lactobacillus casei significantly increased the proportion of Lactobacilli in the total intestinal bacteria (p<0.01) and obviously reduced that of Escherichia-Shigella (p<0.01); ii) treatment increased the length of vermiform appendix (p<0.05); iii) a higher percentage of degranulated paneth cells was observed in the duodenum and jejunum when rabbits administered with Lactobacillus casei (p<0.01); and iv) the expression of toll-like receptor 9, lysozyme (LYZ), and defensin-7-like (DEFEN) in the duodenum and jejunum was stimulated by supplemented Lactobacillus casei (p<0.05). Conclusion: Orally administered Lactobacillus casei could increase the abundance of intestinal Lactobacilli, decrease the relative abundance of intestinal Escherichia-Shigella, promote the growth of appendix vermiform, stimulate the degranulation of paneth cells and induce the expression of DEFEN and LYS. The results of the present study implied that Lactobacillus casei exhibited probiotic potential for suckling rabbits.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.290-297
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• 2017

Background: The use of X-ray phase-contrast microtomography for the investigation of Chinese medicinal materials is advantageous for its nondestructive, in situ, and three-dimensional quantitative imaging properties. Methods: The X-ray phase-contrast microtomography quantitative imaging method was used to investigate the microstructure of ginseng, and the phase-retrieval method is also employed to process the experimental data. Four different ginseng samples were collected and investigated; these were classified according to their species, production area, and sample growth pattern. Results: The quantitative internal characteristic microstructures of ginseng were extracted successfully. The size and position distributions of the calcium oxalate cluster crystals (COCCs), important secondary metabolites that accumulate in ginseng, are revealed by the three-dimensional quantitative imaging method. The volume and amount of the COCCs in different species of the ginseng are obtained by a quantitative analysis of the three-dimensional microstructures, which shows obvious difference among the four species of ginseng. Conclusion: This study is the first to provide evidence of the distribution characteristics of COCCs to identify four types of ginseng, with regard to species authentication and age identification, by X-ray phase-contrast microtomography quantitative imaging. This method is also expected to reveal important relationships between COCCs and the occurrence of the effective medicinal components of ginseng.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2020

The ticks feed large amount of blood from their hosts and transmit pathogens to the victims. The salivary gland plays an important role in the blood feeding. When the female ticks are near engorgement, the salivary gland gradually loses its functions and begins to rapidly degenerate. In this study, data-independent acquisition quantitative proteomics was used to study changes in the phosphorylation modification of proteins during salivary gland degeneration in Haemaphysalis longicornis. In this quantitative study, 400 phosphorylated proteins and 850 phosphorylation modification sites were identified. Trough RNA interference experiments, we found that among the proteins with changes in phosphorylation, apoptosis-promoting Hippo protein played a role in salivary gland degeneration.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.589-596
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• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.410-418
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• 2019

To investigate a novel ${\beta}$-glucosidase from Bifidobacterium breve ATCC 15700 (BbBgl) to produce compound K (CK) via ginsenoside $F_2$ by highly selective and efficient hydrolysis of the C-3 glycoside from ginsenoside Rd, the BbBgl gene was cloned and expressed in E. coli BL21. The recombinant BbBgl was purified by Ni-NTA magnetic beads to obtain an enzyme with specific activity of 37 U/mg protein using pNP-Glc as substrate. The enzyme activity was optimized at pH 5.0, $35^{\circ}C$, 2 or 6 U/ml, and its activity was enhanced by $Mn^{2+}$ significantly. Under the optimal conditions, the half-life of the BbBgl is 180 h, much longer than the characterized ${\beta}$-glycosidases, and the $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values are 2.7 mM and $39.8{\mu}mol/mg/min$ for ginsenoside Rd. Moreover, the enzyme exhibits strong tolerance against high substrate concentration (up to 40 g/l ginsenoside Rd) with a molar biotransformation rate of 96% within 12 h. The good enzymatic properties and gram-scale conversion capacity of BbBgl provide an attractive method for large-scale production of rare ginsenoside CK using a single enzyme or a combination of enzymes.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.681-687
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• 2020

Giardia lamblia is a common enteric pathogen associated with diarrheal diseases. There are some reports of G. lamblia infection among different breeds of cattle in recent years worldwide. However, it is yet to know whether cattle in Jiangxi province, southeastern China is infected with G. lamblia. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the prevalence and examine the multilocus genotypes of G. lamblia in cattle in Jiangxi province. A total of 556 fecal samples were collected from 3 cattle breeds (dairy cattle, beef cattle, and buffalo) in Jiangxi province, and the prevalence and genotypes of G. lamblia were determined by the nested PCR amplification of the beta-giardin (bg) gene. A total of 52 samples (9.2%) were positive for G. lamblia. The highest prevalence of G. lamblia was detected in dairy cattle (20.0%), followed by that in beef cattle (6.4%), and meat buffalo (0.9%). Multilocus sequence typing of G. lamblia was performed based on sequences of the bg, triose phosphate isomerase and glutamate dehydrogenase loci, and 22, 42, and 52 samples were amplifiable, respectively, forming 15 MLGs. Moreover, one mixed G. lamblia infection (assemblages A and E) was found in the present study. Altogether, 6 novel assemblage E subtypes (E41*-E46*) were identified for the first time. These results not only provided baseline data for the control of G. lamblia infection in cattle in this southeastern province of China, but also enriched the molecular epidemiological data and genetic diversity of G. lamblia in cattle.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.481-489
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• 2023

Drained cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on a saturated sand to examine its deformation characteristics under either axial or lateral cyclic loading condition. To apply lateral cyclic loading, the cell pressure was cycled while maintaining a constant vertical stress. The strain accumulations and flow direction in the soil were presented and discussed considering various initial stress ratios (η₀), cyclic stress amplitudes and cyclic stress paths. The results indicate that axial strain accumulation shows an exponential increase with the maximum stress ratio (η^max). The initial deviatoric stress has comparable effects with lateral cyclic stress amplitude on the accumulated axial strain. In contrast, the accumulated volumetric strain is directly proportional to the lateral cyclic stress amplitude but not much affected by η₀ values. Due to the anisotropy of the soil, the accumulated axial and lateral bulging strains are greater in lateral cyclic loading when compared to axial cyclic loading even though η^max is the same. It is also found that η^max affects soil's lateral deformation and increasing the ratio could change the lateral deformation from contraction to bulging. The flow direction depends on η^max in the sand under lateral cyclic loading, regardless of η₀ values and the cyclic stress amplitudes, and a large η^max could lead to great deviatoric strain but a little volumetric strain accumulation.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.967-977
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the effects of tube voltage on image quality in coronary CT angiography (CCTA), the estimated radiation dose, and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes to optimize the use of CCTA in the era of low radiation doses. Materials and Methods: This study included 240 patients who were divided into 2 groups according to the DNA DSB analysis methods, i.e., immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Each group was subdivided into 4 subgroups: those receiving CCTA only with different tube voltages of 120, 100, 80, or 70 kVp. Objective and subjective image quality was evaluated by analysis of variance. Radiation dosages were also recorded and compared. Results: There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics between the 2 groups and 4 subgroups in each group (all p > 0.05). As tube voltage decreased, both image quality and radiation dose decreased gradually and significantly. After CCTA, γ-H2AX foci and mean fluorescence intensity in the 120-, 100-, 80-, and 70-kVp groups increased by 0.14, 0.09, 0.07, and 0.06 foci per cell and 21.26, 9.13, 8.10, and 7.13 (all p < 0.05), respectively. The increase in the DNA DSB level in the 120-kVp group was higher than those in the other 3 groups (all p < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in the DSBs levels among these latter groups (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: The 100-kVp tube voltage may be optimal for CCTA when weighing DNA DSBs against the estimated radiation dose and image quality, with further reductions in tube voltage being unnecessary for CCTA.