Causal association of cathepsins with female infertility: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis

Lidan Liu,Ming Liao,Bo Liu,Qianyi Huang,Huimei Wu,Mujun Li 대한산부인과학회 2025 Obstetrics & Gynecology Science Vol.68 No.3

Objective This study aimed to systematically evaluate potential causal relationships between nine cathepsins and female infertility using Mendelian randomization (MR) methods. Methods A bidirectional MR analysis was conducted utilizing single nucleotide polymorphisms as instrumental variables to investigate the potential causal effects between nine cathepsins and female infertility. Genetic data on female infertility were sourced from the FinnGen study, and cathepsin-related data were obtained from genome-wide association studies datasets of European ancestry. Results Elevated levels of cathepsin E were significantly and inversely associated with the risk of female infertility, suggesting a potential protective role. This finding was further supported by multivariable MR analysis. However, no significant associations were observed between the other eight cathepsins and female infertility. Conclusion This study represents the first systematic MR analysis to identify a potential protective effect of cathepsin E on female infertility.

Influence of Aeolian Sand on Capillary Water Absorption of Concrete Under Freeze–Thaw Conditions

Yugen Li,Huimei Zhang,Shaojie Chen,Hairen Wang,Xiaoyu Liu,Wei Gao 한국콘크리트학회 2023 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.17 No.3

Aeolian sand (AS) can become a green resource for concrete after the reasonable utilization. Study the evolution of AS concrete (ASC) capillary water absorption (CWA) under freeze–thaw (FT) conditions is of great significance for its popularization and application. One-dimensional (1D) CWA test was performed to analyze the effects of AS and freeze–thaw cycling (FTC) on concrete water absorption characteristics. Pore relative saturation (PRS) and pore saturation were defined to reveal the influence mechanism of AS content on concrete water absorption under FT conditions and predict the moisture distribution in damaged ASC combining with the capillary mechanics theory. The results showed that concrete frost resistance increased with increased AS content and the optimal frost resistance achieved with 100% AS replacement despite its low strength. The initial water absorption rate (WAR), pore saturation, and saturation speed of the ASC decreased with increased AS, while the PRS increased with low AS content but decreased with excessive AS. The water absorption depth increased with increased mass and dynamic elastic modulus loss rates. The mechanism regarding why excessive AS improved concrete frost resistance lay in its internal pore structure and large pore ratio, which reduced pore content that can easily absorb water, enclosed a higher volume of air bubbles, and easily formed "air locking," thereby increasing water transmission resistance and forming long transmission paths during the process of CWA.

Humanized patient-derived xenograft mouse model bearing ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Zhen Yuan,Huimei Zhou,Dongyan Cao,Jiaxin Yang,Qian Liu 대한부인종양학회 2025 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.36 No.3

Objective: The study aimed to establish humanized patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models of ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) and evaluate their therapeutic responses. Methods: PDX models and their humanized counterparts (CD34+ humanized PDX models) derived from the same tumor source were developed, and the therapeutic responses were compared between the models. Results: Treatment with a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor significantly reduced tumor size in traditional OCCC PDX models (p=0.021). Although differences in tumor growth between traditional PDX models and humanized PDX models were observed, they were not statistically significant (p=0.438). However, treatment effects of PI3K inhibitor differed significantly between conventional and humanized mice (p=0.006). In the Humanized PDX cohort, both programmed cell death protein-1 antibody monotherapy and PI3K inhibitor treatment slowed tumor growth relative to controls, with a synergistic effect noted during the latter part of the study, though these effects were not statistically significant. Conclusion: This pioneering study successfully develop a humanized PDX model for OCCC, highlighting differential responses to treatments compared to conventional PDX models.

Multi-Discursive Ethnography and the Re-Narration of Chinese Heritage: Stories about the Yueju Opera Performance at the Heavenly Queen Palace of Quzhou

( Song Hou ),( Zongjie Wu ),( Huimei Liu ) 성균관대학교 동아시아학술원 2016 Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies Vol.16 No.2

Recognizing the discursive nature of heritage and its crisis of representation, this paper proposes to use what we call “multi-discursive ethnography” as a methodological and writing strategy to renarrate and thereby remake heritage in contemporary China. Multi-discursive ethnography, as its name indicates, is a form of ethnography that encompasses multiple discourses of a subject matter and strives to facilitate dialogue among them. Scholars are required to conduct fieldwork and other research procedures to expose them to varied discourses, and then write up an ethnography by assembling and weaving together those discourses they find useful for representing dialogue and diversity. As a case study, we present a multi-discursive ethnography of the Heavenly Queen Palace (Tianhou Gong 天后宮) in Quzhou (衢州), Zhejiang Province, focusing chiefly on the Yueju opera (越劇) performances that many local people attend. Stories are told there, allowing us to rethink and reconstruct heritage beyond disciplinary knowledge and universalized meaning-making. This multi-discursive ethnography, we argue, problematizes globalized heritage discourses and invites a diverse and dialogical reconceptualization of a local past in the present by foregrounding vernacular voices and deep cultural discourse, especially with regard to li (禮), which is considered to be “the determinate fabric of Chinese culture, and…the language through which the culture is expressed” (Hall and Ames 1998, 269).

Aqueous Extracts of Se-Enriched Auricularia auricular Exhibits Antioxidant Capacity and Attenuate Liver Damage in High-Fat Diet/Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice

Chunyan Wei,Jingjing Wang,Cuicui Duan,Huimei Fan,Xiaoxiao Liu 한국식품영양과학회 2020 Journal of medicinal food Vol.23 No.2

Oxidative stress triggered by hyperglycemia is thought to be a major factor in the development of liver disease during diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant capacity of aqueous extracts of selenium-enriched Auricularia auricular (AESA) and further investigate the hepatic protection and potential mechanism of AESA in a mouse model of diabetes. An in vitro antioxidant assay confirmed that AESA exhibited better antioxidant capacity characterized by increased reducing power and scavenging capacity of free radicals, such as diphenyl picrylhydrazyl radical, hydroxyl radical, and superoxide radical. The diabetic model was induced by high-fat diet combined with a single injection of streptozotocin in C57BL/6 mice. Our results showed that AESA treatment improved diabetes-induced disorders of lipid metabolisms and alleviated liver damage in diabetic mice. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzyme activities of glutathione peroxidase and catalase in liver were increased and malondialdehyde level was decreased with AESA treatment compared with those in the DM group. In parallel, AESA significantly reduced the contents of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1beta in liver in comparison with the DM group. In addition, western blot results showed that the expression of receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), phospho-c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase, phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and phospho-p38 kinase were remarkably decreased in AESA treatment group compared with DM group. Taken together, supplementation of AESA may effectively attenuate diabetic hepatopathology by exerting antioxidant function through the RAGE/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.