Biomedical subjects

Bin Yao

Publications and source records attributed to Bin Yao.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Integration of fuzzy logic and structure tensor towards mammogram contrast enhancement.

In this paper, we describe a combined approach with fuzzy logic and structure tensor towards improved enhancement of possible MCs (microcalcifications) in digital mammograms. The proposed contrast enhancement algorithm has two operational components. One is structure tensor operator and the other is fuzzy enhancement operator, both of which are arranged in parallel to process the input digital mammograms. While the structure tensor operator processes the digital mammograms and produces a corresponding eigen-image to highlight the region-of-interests, the fuzzy enhancement operator fuzzifies the mammogram via the maximum fuzzy entropy principle in fuzzy domain. As a result, the local fuzzy contrast can be extracted and modified adaptively in accordance with the information provided by the eigen-image, and those non-MCs regions are suppressed by being taken as noise. After that, the mammogram is transformed back to the pixel domain and the enhanced mammogram is constructed. Extensive experimental results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms the existing benchmark in terms of cost figures across the whole range of true positive fractions (TPF).

Algorithms↗

PubMed2004

Accuracy of cDNA microarray methods to detect small gene expression changes induced by neuregulin on breast epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND: cDNA microarrays are a powerful means to screen for biologically relevant gene expression changes, but are often limited by their ability to detect small changes accurately due to "noise" from random and systematic errors. While experimental designs and statistical analysis methods have been proposed to reduce these errors, few studies have tested their accuracy and ability to identify small, but biologically important, changes. Here, we have compared two cDNA microarray experimental design methods with northern blot confirmation to reveal changes in gene expression that could contribute to the early antiproliferative effects of neuregulin on MCF10AT human breast epithelial cells. RESULTS: We performed parallel experiments on identical samples using a dye-swap design with ANOVA and an experimental design that excludes systematic biases by "correcting" experimental/control hybridization ratios with control/control hybridizations on a spot-by-spot basis. We refer to this approach as the "control correction method" (CCM). Using replicate arrays, we identified a decrease in proliferation genes and an increase in differentiation genes. Using an arbitrary cut-off of 1.7-fold and p values <0.05, we identified a total of 32 differentially expressed genes, 9 with the dye-swap method, 18 with the CCM, and 5 genes with both methods. 23 of these 32 genes were subsequently verified by northern blotting. Most of these were <2-fold changes. While the dye-swap method (using either ANOVA or Bayesian analysis) detected a smaller number of genes (14-16) compared to the CCM (46), it was more accurate (89-92% vs. 75%). Compared to the northern blot results, for most genes, the microarray results underestimated the fold change, implicating the importance of detecting these small changes. CONCLUSIONS: We validated two experimental design paradigms for cDNA microarray experiments capable of detecting small (<2-fold) changes in gene expression with excellent fidelity that revealed potentially important genes associated with the anti-proliferative effects of neuregulin on MCF10AT breast epithelial cells.

Blotting, Northern↗

PubMed2004

A constitutive super-enhancer: homologous region 3 of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus.

Transient expression assays were carried out to assess the transcriptional enhancement from the immediate-early gene (ie-1) promoters by cis-linked Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) homologous region-3 (hr3). The ie-1 promoters were derived from Autographa californica multinucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and BmNPV. Hr3 was placed downstream of the luciferase (luc) gene, the resulting plasmids were used to transfect the Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf-21), Bombyx mori (Bm-5, Bm-N) cell lines and 5th instar silkworm larvae mediated by lipofectin. The results revealed that hr3 could stimulate the transcription of homologous BmNPV ie-1 promoter 1970, 2421, 683, and 1059 folds, and the heterologous AcMNPV ie-1 promoter 6462, 4046, 6980, and 605 folds, respectively. These results implied that hr3 was a super enhancer which could function both in vitro and in vivo. The 30-bp imperfect palindrome in hr3 was proved to be the essential structure for enhancing function of hr3. The utilizing of this promoter-enhancer combination in the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) was also carried out to further confirm the function of hr3 enhancer.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Comparative evaluation of microarray analysis software.

A wide variety of software tools are available to analyze microarray data. To identify the optimum software for any project, it is essential to define specific and essential criteria on which to evaluate the advantages of the key features. In this review we describe the results of our comparison of several software tools. We then conclude with a discussion of the subset of tools that are most commonly used and describe the features that would constitute the "ideal microarray analysis software suite."

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed2004

Evaluation of the US Oncology Network's recommended guidelines for therapeutic substitution with darbepoetin alfa 200 microg every 2 weeks in both naïve patients and patients switched from epoetin alfa.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of darbepoetin alfa 200 microg subcutaneously every 2 weeks after therapeutic substitution for epoetin alfa. DESIGN: Retrospective multicenter chart review. SETTING: Three US Oncology-affiliated outpatient sites. PATIENTS: Three hundred thirty anemic patients with nonmyeloid malignancies, of whom 174 had been treated previously with epoetin alfa (switched group) and 156 had not been treated recently with epoetin alfa (naive group). INTERVENTIONS: Therapeutic substitution with darbepoetin alfa was started according to the US Oncology Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee's recommended dosing guidelines: anemic patients with cancer received a starting dosage of darbepoetin alfa 200 microg every 2 weeks regardless of whether or not they had previously received epoetin alfa. Hematologic and darbepoetin alfa usage data were abstracted from consecutive medical records dated from May 2002-March 2003. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Median exposure to darbepoetin alfa was 10 weeks (25th quartile 6 wks, 75th quartile 17 wks) and 10 weeks (25th quartile 5 wks, 75th quartile 18 wks) for the naive and switched groups, respectively. The week before the switch to darbepoetin alfa, the 174 patients receiving epoetin alfa were administered the following weekly doses: less than 40,000 U (9%), 40,000 U (50%), or 45,000-90,000 U (41%). Mean hemoglobin level increased from baseline (wk 0) in both the naive and switched groups. The proportion of patients receiving a red blood cell transfusion in the darbepoetin alfa treatment phase was low (15% in each group). No variation in transfusion rates was observed across weight categories in patients who received a fixed dosage of darbepoetin alfa. Darbepoetin alfa was well tolerated. A detailed usage algorithm was validated by these results and is being used in these three US Oncology-affiliated practices. CONCLUSION: A darbepoetin alfa starting dosage of 200 microg subcutaneously every 2 weeks administered according to US Oncology-recommended dosing guidelines is effective in treating chemotherapy-induced anemia in both epoetin alfa-naive patients and those switched from epoetin alfa.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Induction of long-term glycemic control in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients is associated with improvement of beta-cell function.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether long-term optimal glycemic control can be achieved without medication by transient continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) and the possible mechanisms responsible for this remission. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients (n = 138, fasting glucose >11.1mmol/l) were hospitalized and treated with CSII for 2 weeks. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IVGTTs) were performed, and blood glucose, HbA(1c), lipid profiles, proinsulin, insulin, and C-peptide were measured before and after CSII. Patients were followed longitudinally on diet alone after withdrawal of insulin. RESULTS: Optimal glycemic control was achieved within 6.3 +/- 3.9 days by CSII in 126 patients. The remission rates (percentages maintaining near euglycemia) at the third, sixth, twelfth, and twenty-fourth month were 72.6, 67.0, 47.1, and 42.3%, respectively. Patients who maintained glycemic control >12 months (remission group) had greater recovery of beta-cell function than those who did not (nonremission group) when assessed immediately after CSII. Homeostasis model assessment of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and the area under the curve (AUC) of insulin during IVGTT were higher in the remission group (145.4 +/- 89.6 vs. 78.5 +/- 68.5, P = 0.002, and 1,423.4 +/- 523.2 vs. 1,159.5 +/- 476.8 pmol x l(-1) x min(-1), P = 0.044). Change in acute insulin response was also greater in the remission group than that in the nonremission group (621.8 +/- 430.4 vs. 387.3 +/- 428.8 pmol x l(-1) x min(-1), P = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: Short-term intensive insulin therapy can induce long-term glycemic control in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients with severe hyperglycemia. The improvement of beta-cell function, especially the restoration of first-phase insulin secretion, could be responsible for the remission.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Randomized phase I trial of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor plus chemotherapy: potential role as mucosal protectant.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) when administered with fluorouracil (FU) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (N = 81) received KGF by intravenous (IV) bolus on days 1 to 3, followed by FU 425 mg/m2/d IV bolus plus leucovorin 20 mg/m2/d IV on days 4 to 8. KGF dose levels were 1, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 80 microg/kg/d. A randomized, placebo-controlled design was employed (2:1 randomization of KGF to placebo). Oral mucositis was assessed by examination on days 1, 4, 8, 15, and 28. In addition, patients provided daily assessments of oral symptoms using a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Skin and oral events occurred in 13 of 18 patients (eight patients, grade 1; four patients, grade 2; and one patient, grade 3) treated with 60 and 80 microg/kg of KGF and three of 11 patients treated with 40 microg/kg (grade 1). These symptoms were dose limiting in three cases (ie, in two of 10 patients treated with 80 microg/kg and in one of eight patients treated with 60 microg/kg). The frequency of grade 2 to 4 mucositis was 43% in patients treated with KGF, compared with 67% in patients treated with placebo (P =.06). Patient self-assessments of oral pain and clinical assessments of mucositis showed good correlation (Kendall's tau = 0.75). CONCLUSION: KGF is generally well tolerated when administered IV at doses up to 40 microg/kg/d for 3 days before a 5-day course of FU plus leucovorin. A clinically meaningful biologic effect was also suggested in that patients treated with the epithelial growth factor KGF had a lower rate of grade 2 to 4 mucositis than did patients treated with placebo.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Risk factors of learning disabilities in Chinese children in Wuhan.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate prevalence rate of learning disabilities (LD) in Chinese children, and to explore related risk factors, and to provide theoretical basis for preventing such disabilities. METHODS: One thousand and one hundred fifty one children were randomly selected in primary schools. According to criteria set by ICD-10, 118 children diagnosed as LD were classified into the study group. Four hundred and ninety one children were classified into the normal control group. Five hundred and forty two children were classified into the excellent control group. The study instruments included PRS (The pupil rating scale revised screening for learning disabilities), Conners' children behavior check-list taken by parents and YG-WR character check-list. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of LD in Chinese children was 10.3%. Significant differences were observed between LD and normally learning children, and between the LD group and the excellent group, in terms of scores of Conners' behavior check-list (P < 0.05). The study further showed that individual differences in character between the LD group and the control groups still existed even after controlling individual differences in age, IQ, and gender. Some possible causal explanations contributing to LD were improper teaching by parents, low educational level of the parents, and children's characteristics and social relationships. CONCLUSION: These data underscore the fact that LD is a serious national public health problem in China. LD is resulted from a number of factors. Good studying and living environments should be created for LD children.

Child↗

PubMed2002

ISO9000 and the quality management system in the digital hospital.

ISO9000 quality management system (ISO9000QMS) emphasize on the customer-oriented, managers' leadership and all staff's joining, adopt the process method and system management, spread the taking facts as a basis to make decision and improve consistently, and establish win-win relation with the suppliers. So, the digital hospital can adopt the ISO9000QMS. In order to establish the ISO9000QMS, the digital hospital should: (1) Design integrally, including analyzing the operation procedure, clarifying the job duties, setting up the spreading team and setting the quality policy and objectives: (2) Learning the ISO9000 quality standards; (3) Drawing up the documents, including the quality manual, program files and operation guiding files; (4) Training according the documents; (5) Executing the quality standard, including the service quality auditing, quality record auditing and quality system auditing; (6) Improving continually. With the establishment of ISO900QMS, the digital hospital can appraise more accurately, analyze quality matters statistically and avoid the interference of artificial factors.

Hospital Administration↗

PubMed2002

Assembly-line health check up in digitalized hospital.

The health check up flow of digital hospital can be consulted with the assembly line of industry factory. Because they have the following same features: highly specialized workstation, closeness and continuance, rhythm, balanced production, continuous production. The essential prerequisites are as the follows: The inspecting items and methods should be stable; advanced product mix and stable production design; standardized raw material, consumption, procedure, inspection method; there are lots of request for health inspection; the customers move at the least unit; the space arrangement should be reasonable; the time arrangement should be proportion. With the computer net, the digital inspection can achieves the raw material controlling accurately. The basis of check up line concerns about equipment, net and software, data collection, and personnel. The group technology is used in the health inspection flow design of the digital hospital in the field of items customers and zone redivided. The digital assembly linemic health inspect has the following stages: member registering, notice, check in, arrange order, time control, report, feedback and analysis. The assembly linemic has following advantages: increasing the productivity, the space utility, satisfaction of customer, fund returning, lowering the cost and ensuring the quality.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed2002

Prereperfusion flushing of ischemic territory: a therapeutic study in which histological and behavioral assessments were used to measure ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with stroke.

OBJECT: In ischemic stroke, the ischemic crisis activates a cascade of traumatic events that are potentiated by reperfusion and eventually lead to neuronal degeneration. The primary aim of this study was to investigate a procedure that could minimize this damage by interfering with the interactions between reestablished blood flow and ischemically damaged tissue, as well as by improving regional microcirculation. METHODS: Using a novel hollow filament, the authors flushed the ischemic territory with heparinized saline before vascular reperfusion after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The results demonstrate a statistically significant (p < 0.001) reduction in infarct volume (75%; from 45.3 +/- 3.6% to 11.4 +/- 1.7%, determined with Nissl staining) in rats in which a 2-hour MCA occlusion was followed by a 48-hour reperfusion. Infarction and neuronal degeneration were confirmed using silver staining, which revealed a significantly larger infarct (36.3%, p < 0.05) than that detected with Nissl staining. The long-term neuroprotection of the prereperfusion flushing was also evaluated. This was determined by a series of motor behavior tasks (foot placing, parallel bar traversing, rope and ladder climbing) performed up to 28 days after reperfusion. Motor deficits were found to be significantly ameliorated in animals that underwent the flushing procedure (p < 0.001). In addition, neurological outcome was also improved significantly (p < 0.001) in the same animals. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that interaction between reperfusion and the metabolically and biochemically compromised tissue could be interrupted by the prereperfusion flushing procedure, which could lead to a reduction in brain injury from stroke. Mechanical reopening of the cerebral occlusion with local flushing and isolated reperfusion of the regionally injured brain might offer new treatment options for patients with stroke.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Clinical trial simulation of a 200-microg fixed dose of darbepoetin alfa in chemotherapy-induced anemia.

Our objective was to assess, using clinical trial simulation, the feasibility of a fixed 200-microg dose of darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) administered every 2 weeks in chemotherapy-induced anemia. A pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model was developed using clinical data from 547 cancer patients who received darbepoetin alfa at various doses and schedules. Monte Carlo simulations were performed for weight-based (3 microg/kg every 2 weeks) and fixed-dose (200 microg every 2 weeks) regimens and were compared with observed clinical data. Mean hemoglobin changes from baseline to end of treatment were +1.61 g/dL, +1.83 g/dL, and +1.79 g/dL for observed data, the weight-based simulation, and the fixed-dose simulation, respectively. The rates of required transfusions (hemoglobin < or = 8 g/dL) were also similar between groups. For patients between 45 and 95 kg (over 90% of the population), the impact of a fixed dose on mean hemoglobin change was negligible. There was a slight weight effect at body weight extremes (< 45 kg and > 95 kg). Clinical outcomes from simulations of weight-based andfixed dosing of darbepoetin alfa were similar to those of observed weight-based data. Given the weight distribution of a typical cancer population, the majority would be expected to benefit equally from weight-based and fixed-dose darbepoetin alfa in the amelioration of chemotherapy-induced anemia.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

[Cloning and sequencing of lactase gene from Aspergillus candidus].

Genomic DNA and cDNA sequences of lactase from Aspergillus candidus were cloned. Sequences analysis revealed that the genomic DNA was 3458 bp containing eight introns, cDNA was 3015 bp and encoding a polypeptide of 1005 amino acid residues. Signal peptide was 19 amino acid residues, eleven potential N-glycosylation sites were assumed. Comparing the gene cDNA and amino acid sequences with other lactase sequences from various sources, it showed a very low homology with most of other sequences. Although the gene had a higher homology to Aspergillus oryzae lactase sequence, characterization of both enzymes exhibited obvious difference. The gene from Aspergillus candidus was a promising new gene for food industry.

Amino Acid Sequence↗