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Biomedical subjects

Bin Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Bin Zhang.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Reduction of morbidity and mortality by statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine if statins (hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors [HMG-CoA]), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) reduce cardiovascular (CV) events and pulmonary morbidity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. BACKGROUND: Few current COPD therapies alter prognosis. Although statins, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs improve outcomes in CV populations, their benefits in COPD patients both with and without concomitant heart disease has not previously been studied. METHODS: A time-matched nested case-control study of two population-based retrospective cohorts was undertaken: 1) COPD patients having undergone coronary revascularization (high CV risk cohort); and 2) COPD patients without previous myocardial infarction (MI) and newly treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (low CV risk cohort). Prespecified outcomes were COPD hospitalization, MI, and total mortality. RESULTS: These drugs reduced both CV and pulmonary outcomes, with the largest benefits occurring with the combination of statins and either ACE inhibitors or ARBs. This combination was associated with a reduction in COPD hospitalization (risk ratio [RR] 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.51 to 0.85) and total mortality (RR 0.42, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.52) not only in the high CV risk cohort but also in the low CV risk cohort (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.87, and RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.45, respectively). The combination also reduced MI in the high CV risk cohort (RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.49). Benefits were similar when steroid users were included. CONCLUSIONS: These agents may have dual cardiopulmonary protective properties, thereby substantially altering prognosis of patients with COPD. These findings need confirmation in randomized clinical trials.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Time variations in the risk of myocardial infarction among elderly users of COX-2 inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: The timing of cardiovascular risks associated with the use of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors is unclear. Using data collected in a previous population-based cohort study of elderly people starting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy, we evaluated the temporal nature of the risk of a first myocardial infarction (MI) associated with the use of rofecoxib and celecoxib. METHODS: We identified people 66 years of age or older without previous MI who were currently taking rofecoxib and celecoxib using Quebec's computerized health databases (January 1999 to June 2002). Data on use and MI outcome were analyzed using a time-matched, nested case-control approach with rate ratios, comparing current users and non-users of rofecoxib and celecoxib in the year preceding the index date, estimated using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: The risk of MI was highest following first-time use of rofecoxib (adjusted rate ratio [RR] 1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21-2.30), with events occurring within a median of 9 (6-13) days after therapy was started. The risk increase for first-time use of celecoxib was not statistically significant (RR 1.29, 95% CI 0.90-1.83). Repeated exposure to rofecoxib was associated with a small but statistically nonsignificant delayed risk (RR 1.17, 95% CI 0.98-1.40), but no risk was seen with celecoxib (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.82-1.14). Treatment duration was not associated with increasing risk for either agent. The risk remained elevated for the first 7 days after rofecoxib was discontinued (RR 1.23, 95% CI 1.05-1.44) but appeared to return to baseline between day 8 and 30 (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.61-1.09). INTERPRETATION: A small proportion of patients using rofecoxib for the first time had their first MI shortly after starting the drug. This risk did not increase with the length of treatment and returned to baseline shortly after treatment was discontinued. More research is needed to identify those most susceptible to cardiotoxicity mediated by COX-2 inhibitor therapy.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Elective lateral neck dissection for laryngeal cancer in the clinically negative neck.

BACKGROUND: Despite the introduction of modern imaging techniques, it is still difficult to detect microscopic disease in neck nodes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the lateral neck dissection (LND) for elective treatment of the clinically node negative neck (cN0) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS: The clinical records of 110 cN0 patients with laryngeal SCC treated in this hospital from January 1997 to December 2002 were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: One hundred ten patients received 145 elective LND. Occult metastasis was detected in 22 (20.0%) of this group of patients. The distribution of the 37 positive nodes was as follows: Level II 56.8%; Level III 37.8%; Level IV 5.4%. The 3-year neck recurrence rate estimated by the Kaplan-Meier approach for all cN0 patients (n = 110) was 5.4% [95% CI: 0.0%; 12.5%]. No significant difference in 3-year lymph node recurrence was found between node negative and node positive groups, between supraglottis and glottis groups, or between surgery alone and combined therapy groups. CONCLUSION: The lateral neck dissection is effective in elective treatment of the neck in patients with laryngeal carcinoma.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Methods to classify familial relationships in the presence of laboratory errors, without parental data.

We consider the problem of accurate classification of family relationship in the presence of laboratory error without parental data. We first propose an adjusted version of the test statistic proposed by Ehm and Wagner based on the summation over a large number of genetics markers. We then propose use of the Bayes factor as a classification rule. We prove theoretically that the Bayes factor is the optimal classification rule in that the total classification error is minimized. We show via simulations that both the adjusted Ehm and Wagner method and Bayes factor classification rule reduce misclassification errors, and that the Bayes factor classification rule is robust against under-estimation or over-estimation of laboratory errors. For monozygotic twins versus dizygotic twins, the correct classification rate of the Bayes rule is over 99%. For full-siblings versus half-siblings, the Bayes factor classification rule generally outperforms Ehm and Wagner's method (in Am J Hum Genet 62:181-188, 1998), especially when full-sibling proportion is high.

Diagnostic Errors↗
PubMed2006

Hybrid organic-inorganic conductor with a magnetic chain anion: kappa-BETS2[Fe(III)(C2O4)Cl2] [BETS = bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene].

The synthesis, crystal structure, and electrical, optical, and magnetic properties of kappa-BETS2[Fe(III)(C2O4)Cl2], where BETS is bis(ethylenedithio)tetraselenafulvalene, are reported. The black plate crystals consist of parallel donor layers, two per unit cell, displaying a kappa-type packing of BETS(0.5+) within the bc plane and anionic magnetic chains, [Fe(C2O4)Cl2-]n, running along the c axis. It displays metallic behavior down to 4.2 K, and analysis of the optical reflectivity data gives unscreened plasma energies of 0.69 eV (E parallel c) and 0.40 eV (E perpendicular c). The optical anisotropy is larger than that seen for other kappa phases and is described well by transfer integrals obtained from extended Hückel calculations. However, the transfer integrals need to be scaled down uniformly by a factor of 1.21 to reproduce the absolute experimental plasma frequencies. The band structure consists of a one-dimensional (1D) band and a hole pocket, characteristics of kappa phases. The magnetic properties were modeled by the sum of a 1D antiferromagnetic chain contribution from the d spins of Fe3+, a temperature-independent paramagnetic contribution, and a Curie impurity term. At 4.5 K, there is a signature of long-range magnetic ordering to a canted-antiferromagnetic state in the zero-field-cooled-field-cooled magnetizations, and at 2 K, a small hysteresis loop is observed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Tryptase activates PKB in inflammatory reaction in ECV304 cells.

Tryptase is involved in proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) mediated up-regulation of IL-8 expression. The present report showed the effects of tryptase on gene expression and activation, including up-regulation IL-8 expression. The expression of mRNA for NF-kappaB first increased at 1 h after tryptase-treatment (1 ng/ml) and reached the plateau after 4 h. The NF-kappaB mRNA increased by 3-fold (n = 3, P < 0.05), AP-1 by 2-fold (n = 3, P < 0.05), and PKB by 10-fold (n = 3, P < 0.05). However, tryptase-treatment did not affect the expression of JNK and p38 MAPK when compared with control cells at mRNA level. Furthermore, in addition to increasing phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, tryptase-treatment also increased phosphorylation of PKB by 2-fold at 15 min following the treatment. The up-regulation and phosphorylation of PKB by tryptase could be abolished by either phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor (LY294002) at 10 microM or antisense PKB cDNA transfection. The up-regulation of NF-kappaB expression could be inhibited by LY294002 and antisense PKB cDNA. These results indicate that tryptase can activate PI3K-PKB pathway and enhance IL-8 expression.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed2006

Gene connectivity, function, and sequence conservation: predictions from modular yeast co-expression networks.

BACKGROUND: Genes and proteins are organized into functional modular networks in which the network context of a gene or protein has implications for cellular function. Highly connected hub proteins, largely responsible for maintaining network connectivity, have been found to be much more likely to be essential for yeast survival. RESULTS: Here we investigate the properties of weighted gene co-expression networks formed from multiple microarray datasets. The constructed networks approximate scale-free topology, but this is not universal across all datasets. We show strong positive correlations between gene connectivity within the whole network and gene essentiality as well as gene sequence conservation. We demonstrate the preservation of a modular structure of the networks formed, and demonstrate that, within some of these modules, it is possible to observe a strong correlation between connectivity and essentiality or between connectivity and conservation within the modules particularly within modules containing larger numbers of essential genes. CONCLUSION: Application of these techniques can allow a finer scale prediction of relative gene importance for a particular process within a group of similarly expressed genes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Biomolecule-assisted synthesis and electrochemical hydrogen storage of porous spongelike Ni3S2 nanostructures grown directly on nickel foils.

Nanothread-based porous spongelike Ni3S2 nanostructures were synthesized directly on Ni foil by using a simple biomolecule-assisted method. By varying the experimental parameters, other novel Ni3S2 nanostructures could also be fabricated on the nickel substrate. The electrochemical hydrogen-storage behavior of these novel porous Ni3S2 nanostructures was investigated as an example of the potential properties of such porous materials. The thread-based porous spongelike Ni3S2 could electrochemically charge and discharge with the high capacity of 380 mAh g(-1) (corresponding to 1.4 wt % hydrogen in single-walled nanotubes (SWNT)). A novel two-charging-plateaux phenomenon was observed in the synthesized porous spongelike Ni3S2 nanostructures, suggesting two independent steps in the charging process. We have demonstrated that the morphology of the synthesized Ni3S2 nanostructures had a noticeable influence on their electrochemical hydrogen-storage capacity. This is probably due to the size and density of the pores as well as the microcosmic morphology of different nickel sulfide nanostructures. These novel porous Ni3S2 nanostructures should find wide applications in hydrogen storage, high-energy batteries, luminescence, and catalytic fields. This facile, environmentally benign, and solution-phase biomolecule-assisted method can be potentially extended to the preparation of other metal sulfide nanostructures on metal substrates, such as Cu, Fe, Sn, and Pb foils.

Cysteine↗
PubMed2006

Expression of cancer-testis antigen (CTA) in tumor tissues and peripheral blood of Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

To investigate the expression of cancer-testis antigen (CTA) in Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the relationship between CTA gene expression and clinical indexes, we used one-step reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expression of the CTA mRNA was investigated in the tissues of HCC and corresponding peripheral blood of 37 patients with HCC. Fifteen samples of cirrhotic tissues and 15 normal tissues were examined with the same method. Two kinds of CTA (SSX-2 and SSX-5) showed high-specific and high-frequent expression in HCC tissues, but neither of them could be detected in adjacent non-HCC tissues. In corresponding peripheral blood of HCC tissues, the positive expression rate of the SSX-2 and SSX-5 mRNA was not very high. No relationship was found between the expression of CTA and clinical indicators such as age, sex, tumor size, TNM staging, serum AFP level and infection with hepatitis virus. In 15 patients with cirrhosis and 15 other non-tumor patients, none of the SSX-2 and SSX-5 mRNA was detected in liver tissue or peripheral blood. High frequency and specificity of CTAs in HCC indicates that their products may be new potential promising targets for antigen-specific immunotherapy of HCC. High frequent co-expression of the two genes in HCC provides a possibility of polyvalent vaccinations for HCC. Specific expression of CTAs was observed in AFP-negative HCC, suggested applying their mRNA as tumor markers to detect circulating HCC cells as adjuvant diagnostic tool and as indicators of recurrence and prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Impaired glutamate transport in a mouse model of tau pathology in astrocytes.

Filamentous tau inclusions in neurons and glia are neuropathological hallmarks of tauopathies. The discovery of microtubule-associated protein tau gene mutations that are pathogenic for a heterogenous group of neurodegenerative disorders, called frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome-17 (FTDP-17), directly implicate tau abnormalities in the onset/progression of disease. Although the role of tau pathology in neurons in disease pathogenesis is well accepted, the contribution of glial pathology is essentially unknown. We recently generated a transgenic (Tg) mouse model of tau pathology in astrocytes by expressing the human tau protein under the control of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter. Both wild-type and FTDP-17 mutant GFAP/tau Tg animals manifest an age-dependent accumulation of tau inclusions in astrocytes that resembles the pathology observed in human tauopathies. We further demonstrate that both strains of Tg mice manifest compromised motor function that correlates with altered expression of the glial glutamate-aspartate transporter and occurs before the development of tau pathology. Subsequently, the Tg mice manifest additional deficits in neuromuscular strength that correlates with reduced expression of glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) and occurs concurrent with tau inclusion pathology. Reduced GLT-1 expression was associated with a progressive decrease in sodium-dependent glutamate transport capacity. Reductions in GLT-1 expression were also observed in corticobasal degeneration, a tauopathy with prominent pathology in astrocytes. Less robust changes were observed in Alzheimer's disease in which neuronal tau pathology predominates. Thus, these Tg mice recapitulate features of astrocytic pathology observed in tauopathies and implicate a role for altered astrocyte function in the pathogenesis of these disorders.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed2006

Assessment of myocardial viability in patients with myocardial infarction using twenty-four hour thallium-201 late redistribution imaging.

BACKGROUND: Rest thallium-201 (201Tl) myocardial perfusion imaging has been widely used for evaluation of myocardial ischemia/viability after myocardial infarction, but the ideal timing for imaging after injection to maximally estimate viability is not well established. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with myocardial infarction underwent the initial, 3 h, and 24 h redistribution imaging after intravenous injection of 148-185 MBq 201Tl. The initial and 3 h images, the initial and 24 h images, and the 3 and 24 h images were compared double-blinded. RESULTS: Out of the 184 abnormal segments based on the initial imaging, 56 (30%) segments improved by at least 1 grade on the 3 h imaging while 78 (42%) segments improved by at least 1 grade on the 24 h imaging. The 24 h late imaging detected more viable myocardium than the 3 h imaging did, with a significant difference (chi2= 5.680, p = 0.017). There were 158 abnormal segments on the 3 h imaging, with average 28% (44) segments improved by at least 1 grade on the 24 h imaging. There were 128 initial abnormal segments with no improvement on the 3 h imaging. Out of these segments, the 24 h late redistribution imaging detected additional redistribution in 26 segments, taking up 20%. CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-four hour late 201Tl imaging will demonstrated additional redistribution in patients who have incompletely reversible defects on early redistribution imaging at 3h.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Determination and assessment of HCHs and DDTs residues in sediments from Lake Dongting, China.

The contamination of organochlorine pesticides hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and their eco-environmental assessment in surface sediments from Lake Dongting, the second-largest freshwater lake in China, were studied. Concentrations of summation HCH (=alpha-HCH + beta-HCH + gamma-HCH +delta-HCH) were 0.21-9.59 ng/g dry weight and those of summation DDT = p,p'-DDD+p,p'-DDE+o,p'-DDT+p,p'-DDT) ranged from under detectable limit to 10.15 ng/g dry weight. The ratios of alpha-HCH to gamma-HCH were above 7 at most sampling sites while no or a small amount of beta-HCH were found at all sites, suggesting the degradation of HCH used in the history and possibly current use of HCH in the region. The low ratios (below 2.0 in most cases) of (p,p'-DDE+p,p'-DDD) to p,p'-DDT and high levels of individual isomers of DDT at some sites also suggested that there have still been fresh inputs of DDT into Lake Dongting. Through the comparison between concentrations of HCH and DDT residues in sediments of Lake Dongting and those from other places in China and also from the results of our eco-environmental assessment, it can be concluded that Lake Dongting is the water body with high contamination of both HCH and DDT in its sediments in comparison with other water bodies in China.

China↗
PubMed2006

Adaptive predictive functional control of a class of nonlinear systems.

This paper describes the use of pseudo-partial derivative (PPD) to dynamically linearize a nonlinear system, and aggregation is applied to the predicted PPD, resulting in a model-free adaptive predictive control algorithm for a nonlinear system. The algorithm design is only based on the PPD derived online from the input/output data of the controlled process, however it does provide bounded input/output sequence and setpoint tracking without steady-state error. A detailed discussion on parameter selection is also provided. To show the capability of the algorithm, simulations of a time-delay plant and a pH neutralization process show that the proposed method is effective for system parameter perturbation and external disturbance rejection.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Sex differences in insomnia: a meta-analysis.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Most but not all epidemiologic evidence suggests a female predisposition of insomnia. We applied meta-analytic methods to investigate sex differences in the risk of insomnia among the published epidemiologic studies. DESIGN: Meta-analysis with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Englewood, NJ); 9 different analyses were performed to investigate the sex difference of insomnia among different conditions. SETTING: A comprehensive search of the medical literature databases was performed to identify epidemiologic studies of insomnia. A rolling snowball method was also used. PARTICIPANTS: General population. INTERVENTIONS: N/A. RESULT: Thirty-one related papers were found, but 2 studies only reported the subtype prevalence of insomnia. All other studies (1,265,015 participants, female/male: 718,828/546,187) were included in the overall analysis of insomnia. A risk ratio of 1.41 [95% confidence interval: 1.28-1.55] for female versus male was found. The female excess in the risk of insomnia in large and quality studies was much higher than that of small and nonquality studies. The trend of female predisposition was consistent and progressive across age, with more significance in the elderly. The use of various criteria and frequency and duration of insomnia did not influence the predisposition of female in the risk of developing insomnia. Although obvious female excess in the risk of insomnia exists among different regions, there was a relatively lower female excess in East Asia. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis confirmed a female predisposition of insomnia. Further studies will be needed to examine the roles of different factors in leading to the sex difference of insomnia.

Female↗
PubMed2006

Pediococcus ethanolidurans sp. nov., isolated from the walls of a distilled-spirit-fermenting cellar.

Two novel Pediococcus strains, Z-9(T) and Z-17, were isolated from a distilled-spirit-fermenting cellar in Hebei Province, China. The cells were Gram-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile cocci and occurred in pairs or tetrads. The strains were facultatively anaerobic and produced only lactic acid [d(-) and l(+) isomers in the ratio 50 : 50] from glucose fermentation. Catalase activity was not present. Both strains were able to grow in 6.5 % ethanol and at pH 3.5, but not in 4 % NaCl. The mean genomic G+C content of the two strains was 39.5+/-0.5 mol% (39 mol% for the type strain, Z-9(T)). The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the two novel strains and related species of the genus Pediococcus ranged from 98.3 to 98.7 %. The levels of DNA-DNA relatedness between strain Z-9(T) and the phylogenetically closely related pediococci Pediococcus damnosus LMG 11484(T), Pediococcus inopinatus LMG 11409(T), Pediococcus parvulus LMG 11486(T) and Pediococcus cellicola LMG 22956(T) were 14.6, 33, 28.7 and 16.8 %, respectively. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analyses, a novel species, Pediococcus ethanolidurans sp. nov., is proposed, with strain Z-9(T) (=AS 1.3889(T)=LMG 23354(T)) as the type strain.

Alcoholic Beverages↗
PubMed2006

The role of the cytoskeleton in neuromuscular junction formation.

The cytoskeleton plays a vital role in neuromuscular junction (NMJ) formation. It is responsible for shaping synaptic membrane into folds opposed to presynaptic active zones and anchoring acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) to the crest of the junctional folds. Acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) associate with the actin cytoskeleton, the disruption of which affects spontaneous and agrin-induced AChR clusters (Prives et al., 1982; Connolly, 1984; Peng and Phelan, 1984; Bloch, 1986; Dai et al., 2000). How AChRs are tethered to the actin cytoskeleton remains unclear.

Actinin↗
PubMed2006

MuSK signaling at the neuromuscular junction.

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a peripheral cholinergic synapse that conveys signals from motor neurons to muscle cells (Sanes and Lichtman, 1999; Sanes and Lichtman, 2001). The formation of the NMJ requires communication between motoneurons and muscle fibers. Three molecules are essential for NMJ formation: agrin, MuSK, and rapsyn. MuSK appears to be involved in every aspect of NMJ development and maintenance. The paper reviews agrin-MuSK cascades and its potential cross talk with Wnt signaling pathways.

Agrin↗