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Biomedical subjects

Kun Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Kun Zhou.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2026

Natural variation in SL6 determines fatty acid components and seed longevity in rice.

Seed longevity (SL) is vital for ensuring food security worldwide. However, the genetic basis of SL has been scarcely documented. Here, we report the cloning of a major SL locus, qSL6, encoding a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase type B. SL6 is functionally conserved in regulating palmitic acid synthesis in seeds, conferring higher oxidation durability and SL in various species. Through the VP1-SL6 module, a seed desiccation-derived ABA signal is transmitted via VP1, which directly activates SL6 transcription to alter the fatty acid composition and elevate SL in seeds. The ancestral elite allele SL6HHZ harbors a virus-derived CT-rich motif cis-element in the 5'UTR, which serves as a universal, bidirectional mRNA stabilizer, contributing to the divergence between indica and japonica in terms of SL. Moreover, manipulating SL6 expression via marker-assisted selection or transgenic approaches notably improved SL in rice cultivars and F1 hybrids without affecting major agronomic traits. Our findings provided a promising genetic locus for improving SL in rice.

Oryza↗
PubMed2026

Microbial DNA analysis of paired blood-bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in post-HSCT patients with pneumonia implying application conditions of blood as a surrogate in pathogen detection.

BACKGROUND: Blood testing aids pneumonia diagnosis, but its effectiveness varies. Given the invasiveness of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) sampling versus blood testing's simplicity, this study investigates when blood can reliably substitute for BALF in detecting microbial presence, especially for pathogens. RESULTS: Metagenomic sequencing was performed on paired BALF-blood samples from 21 post-HSCT immunocompromised (ICP) and 21 immunocompetent (ICT) patients. The ICP cohort was expanded to 62 for biomarker validation. Host responses were profiled via metatranscriptomics (30 BALF samples). Microbial alpha and beta diversity differed significantly between blood and BALF in ICP, but not ICT, patients. ICP patients' BALF contained a greater diversity and abundance of microbes. A higher proportion of microbial DNA sequences in ICP patients' blood was also present in their BALF, suggesting a potentially more permeable alveolar-capillary barrier. Related genes (e.g., NABA CORE MATRISOME, extracellular matrix organization, cell-cell adhesion) were downregulated. Upregulated pathways like VEGFA-VEGFR2 signaling and Rho GTPases suggested increased vascular permeability. In ICP patients, 419 microbial sequences in blood indicated their presence in the lower respiratory tract with > 70% certainty. CONCLUSION: Host immune status significantly influences blood-BALF microbial diversity differences. Shared blood-BALF microbial DNA sequences show potential for aiding pneumonia pathogen diagnosis, offering a novel biomarker identification approach.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

[Cytokine-induced killer cell fusion to lower recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization sequentially combined with radiofrequency ablation: a randomized trial].

OBJECTIVE: To ed evaluate the clinical effects of autologous cytokine-induced killer cell (CIK) fusion to lower recurrence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) effect after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) sequentially combined with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). METHODS: Sixty-four HCC patients underwent TACE sequentially combined with RFA without residual tumor or extrahepatic metastasis were randomly divided into 2 groups: study group (n = 33), receiving autologous CIK fusion of the dose of (1.1 - 1.5) x 10(10) via the peripheral vein or hepatic artery, firstly once every 3 - 4 weeks for 4 times, and then once every 4 weeks for 4 times; and control group (n = 31). All patients were followed up for 1 year. RESULTS: In the study group, 29 patients (29/33) were recurrence-free during the 1 year follow-up, 3 had recurrence in the liver 5, 6, and 7 months later respectively, and 1 patient had lymphoadenopathy in the hepatic portal 9 months later. In the control group, 23 patients (68.01%) were recurrence-free, 7 had recurrence in the liver within 1 year, and 1 had lung metastasis 11 months later. In the study group, the number of the patients with the HBV DNA content < 1 x 10(3) before treatment was 19, and increased to 29 after the treatment; 2 of the 19 patients who were HBsAg positive before the treatment became HBsAg negative after the treatment, and number of the patients with the HBV DNA content of 10(3) - 10(4) was 3 before the treatment, and became 13 after the treatment among which 1 patient had his HBV DNA content dropping from 1.6 x 10(7) to 1.6 x 10(4). In the control group, only 1 patient showed his HBV DNA content dropping from 1.1 x 10(5) to below 10(3). CONCLUSION: Capable of reducing recurrence, prolonging the recurrence-free span, and attacking HBV, autologous CIK fusion after TACE sequentially combined with RFA is an effective novel therapeutic strategy for HCC.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Segregation of large granules from close-packed cluster of small granules due to buoyancy.

Segregation of large granules in a vibrofluidized granular bed with inhomogeneous granular number density distribution is studied by an event-driven algorithm. Simulation results show that the mean vertical position of large granules decreases with the increase of the density ration of the large granules to the small ones. This conclusion is consistent with the explanation that the net pressure due to the small surrounding particle impacts balances the large granular weight, and indict that the upward movement of the large granules is driven by the buoyancy. The values of temperature, density, and pressure of the systems are also computed by changing the conditions such as heating temperature on the bottom and restitution coefficient of particles. These results indicate that the segregation of large granules also happen in the systems with density inversion or even close-packed cluster of particles floating on a low-density fluid, due to the buoyancy. An equation of state is proposed to explain the buoyancy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

[Investigation of relationship between prehospital care for traumatic shock and postoperative acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and analyze the correlation and clinical significance of prehospital treatment for traumatic shock and postoperative acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). METHODS: Six hundred cases in the last 10 years were enrolled for double-blind randomized control study. They were divided into 3 groups. Group A consisted of 184 cases who had received combined treatment, group B consisted of 305 cases who had received fluid replacement only and group C consisted of 111 cases with no treatment. The incidence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), ALI and ARDS of each group were analyzed and compared. SIRS was graded at 1 (T0) after admission, 24 (T1), 48 (T2), 96 (T3) and 144 hours (T4) after operation. RESULTS: In 524 cases diagnosis of SIRS was made among 600 patients (87.33%). Among them 73.37% (135/184 cases) were in group A, 91.48% (279/305 cases) belonged to group B and 99.10% (110/111 cases) in group C. The scores of SIRS were notably lower in group A than B and C at each time point (all P<0.01), and they were lower in group B than those in group C (all P<0.01), they recovered at T3 after operation in group A while in group B patients recovered at 144 hours after operation. Eleven patients among 184 (5.98%) were diagnosed to have ALI including 1 case progressed to ARDS and 1 case to MODS and no one died, while in group B 32 cases in 305 (10.49%) had ALI with 7 cases progressed to ARDS and 3 cases to MODS while 3 deaths and in group C 23 among 111 (20.72%) had ALI, and 8 patients progressed to ARDS, 5 cases to MODS and 5 deaths. CONCLUSION: Prehospital treatment is closely related with postoperative ALI, and combined treatment is beneficial in reducing the incidence of postoperative ALI/ARDS.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in repairing injured articular cartilage.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in repairing injured articular cartilage. METHODS: Ten adult New Zealand rabbits with bilateral full-thickness osteochondral defects on the cartilage surface of intercondylar fossas were used in this study. The wounds in the left knees were treated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound as the experimental group. The right knees received no treatment as the control group. All the animals were killed at 8 weeks after injury and the tissues in the wounds were collected for gross appearance grading, histological grading and proteoglycan quantity. RESULTS: The scores of the gross appearance grades, histological grades and the optical density of toluidine blue of the tissues in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the controls at 8 weeks after injury (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound can accelerate the repair of injured articular cartilage.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

[Nutrition support of severe illness patients of general surgery during peroperation period].

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical effect of the nutrition support of severe illness patients of general surgery during peroperation period. METHODS: To analyse application of the nutrition support applied to 147 cases with severe illness of general surgery in peroperation period since 1995. In 147 cases, there were abdominal operations(n=138, 93.9%) and cervical operations(n=9, 6.1%) and emergency operations (n=63, 42.8%). Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) was used by venous canal ways including internal jugular vein (n=132, 89.8%), axillary vein (n=11, 7.5%), femoral vein (n=4, 2.7%), used unicameral catheter (n=127, 86.4%), double catheter (n=20, 13.6%), 41 cases were used enteral nutrition. Two different nutritional support treatments were employed, one was TPN-->parenteral nutrition(PN)+oral diet-->oral diet (n=106, 72.1%) and another was TPN-->PN+enteral nutrition(EN)-->EN-->EN+oral diet-->oral diet (n=41, 27.9%). RESULTS: There were not complications of catheterization and metabolism in the nutrition support, 142 cases (96.6%) had been cured and 5 cases (3.4%) died of primary diseases after operation. CONCLUSION: The nutrition support of patients with severe illness of general surgery in peroperation period is an important adjuvant treatment that can assure operative safety and promote recovery on postoperation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Decorating surfaces with bidirectional texture functions.

We present a system for decorating arbitrary surfaces with bidirectional texture functions (BTF). Our system generates BTFs in two steps. First, we automatically synthesize a BTF over the target surface from a given BTF sample. Then, we let the user interactively paint BTF patches onto the surface such that the painted patches seamlessly integrate with the background patterns. Our system is based on a patch-based texture synthesis approach known as quilting. We present a graphcut algorithm for BTF synthesis on surfaces and the algorithm works well for a wide variety of BTF samples, including those which present problems for existing algorithms. We also describe a graphcut texture painting algorithm for creating new surface imperfections (e.g., dirt, cracks, scratches) from existing imperfections found in input BTF samples. Using these algorithms, we can decorate surfaces with real-world textures that have spatially-variant reflectance, fine-scale geometry details, and surfaces imperfections. A particularly attractive feature of BTF painting is that it allows us to capture imperfections of real materials and paint them onto geometry models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system with examples.

Algorithms↗