Simultaneous Modulated Accelerated Radiation Therapy and Concurrent Weekly Paclitaxel in the Treatment of Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Xie, Cong-Ying,Jin, Xian-Ce,Deng, Xia,Xue, Sheng-Liu,Jing, Zhao,Su, Hua-Fang,Wu, Shi-Xiu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of simultaneous accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) and concurrent weekly paclitaxel in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: Forty-one patients with pathologically confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated by SMART with concurrent weekly paclitaxel. Daily fraction doses of 2.5 Gy and 2.0 Gy were prescribed to the gross tumor volume (GTV) and clinical target volume (CTV) to a total dose of 70 Gy and 56 Gy, respectively. Paclitaxel of $45mg/m^2$ was administered concurrently with radiation therapy every week. Adjuvant chemotherapy was given four weeks after the completion of the radiotherapy (RT) if the tumor demonstrated only a partial response (PR). Results: All patients completed the radiotherapy (RT) course. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 12 patients due to PR. The CR (complete remission) rate was 82.9% three months after RT. Thirty-nine (95.1%) patients completed the concurrent weekly chemotherapy with paclitaxel, and two patients skipped their sixth course. Seven patients had a 15% dosage reduction at the fifth and sixth course due to grade 3 mucositis. The median follow-up was 30 (range, 14-42) months. The three-year overall survival (OS), metastases-free survival (MFS), and local control rates were 77.0%, 64.4%, and 97.6%, respectively. No correlation between survival rate and T or N stage was observed. Grade 3 acute mucositis and xerostomia were present in 17.1% and 7.1%, respectively. Conclusion: SMART with concurrent weekly paclitaxel is a potentially effective and toxicity tolerable approach in the treatment of locally advanced NPC.

A network meta-analysis of the short-term efficacy of five chemotherapy regimens based on cisplatin and fluorouracil for esophagogastric junctional adenocarcinoma

Cong Wang,Dong-Jian Song,Zhi-Li Xu,Shu-Ping Xie,Jun-Hong Hu 생화학분자생물학회 2017 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.49 No.-

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the short-term efficacy of different cisplatin and fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimens in the treatment of patients with esophagogastric junctional adenocarcinoma (EGJA) using a network meta-analysis (NMA). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to chemotherapy regimens based on cisplatin and fluorouracil for EGJA were included from the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library electronic databases (from inception to June 2016). Direct and indirect evidence were combined to calculate the pooled odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as well as to draw the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) curves. This NMA finally enrolled ten eligible RCTs with the following five regimens: cisplatin plus fluorouracil (cisplatin+fluorouracil), cisplatin+fluorouracil-based chemotherapy (cisplatin+fluorouracil+docetaxel/epirubicin/irinotecan), fluorouracil-based chemotherapy (fluorouracil+docetaxel/doxorubicin/ methotrexate/irinotecan), cisplatin-based chemotherapy (cisplatin+docetaxel/epirubicin/irinotecan/capecitabine/s-1) and other drug-based chemotherapy (docetaxel/irinotecan/capecitabine). These results revealed that compared with a cisplatin+ fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimen, the fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimen had a lower overall response rate (ORR) and partial response (PR) for EGJA patients (ORR: OR=0.43, 95% CI=0.22–0.86; PR: OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.23–0.91). Cluster analyses suggested that the cisplatin+fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimen had the best short-term efficacy for EGJA in terms of the complete response (CR), PR, ORR, stable disease (SD) and progression disease (PD). Our results indicated that cisplatin+fluorouracil-based chemotherapy regimens may have the best short-term efficacy in the treatment of EGJA

Selection of Reference Genes for Real-time Quantitative PCR Normalization in the Process of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici Infecting Wheat

Xie, Li-hua,Quan, Xin,Zhang, Jie,Yang, Yan-yan,Sun, Run-hong,Xia, Ming-cong,Xue, Bao-guo,Wu, Chao,Han, Xiao-yun,Xue, Ya-nan,Yang, Li-rong The Korean Society of Plant Pathology 2019 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.35 No.1

Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici is a soil borne pathogenic fungus associated with wheat roots. The accurate quantification of gene expression during the process of infection might be helpful to understand the pathogenic molecular mechanism. However, this method requires suitable reference genes for transcript normalization. In this study, nine candidate reference genes were chosen, and the specificity of the primers were investigated by melting curves of PCR products. The expression stability of these nine candidates was determined with three programs-geNorm, Norm Finder, and Best Keeper. $TUB{\beta}$ was identified as the most stable reference gene. Furthermore, the exopolygalacturonase gene (ExoPG) was selected to verify the reliability of $TUB{\beta}$ expression. The expression profile of ExoPG assessed using $TUB{\beta}$ agreed with the results of digital gene expression analysis by RNA-Seq. This study is the first systematic exploration of the optimal reference genes in the infection process of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici.

Association between Glutathione S-Transferase T1, M1, and P1 Genotypes and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Ning Cong,Lisheng Liu,Ying Xie,Wenbo Shao,Jinlong Song 대한의학회 2014 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.29 No.11

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are enzymes which play an important role in theneutralization of toxic compounds and eradication of electrophilic carcinogens. Geneticpolymorphisms within the genes encoding for GSTs may therefore cause variations in theirenzyme activity, which may in turn influence the interindividual susceptibility to cancers. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms ofGSTT1, GSTM1, and GSTP1 and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in 264 cases and 317controls in a Chinese population. Genotyping was performed by using multiplex PCR (forGSTT1 and GSTM1) and PCR-RFLP (for GSTP1) methods. The association between thepolymorphic genotypes and CRC risk was evaluated by deriving odds ratios (ORs) and 95%confidence intervals (CIs) using unconditional logistic regression analysis. Our resultsshowed that individuals with GSTT1 and GSTM1 null genotypes exhibited a higher risk ofCRC (GSTT1, OR,1.66; 95% CI, 1.20-2.31, P = 0.003; GSTM1, OR,1.57; 95% CI,1.13-2.18, P = 0.007), while no association was observed for GSTP1 (Pheterozygous = 0.790 or Pvariant= 0.261). Furthermore, individuals who simultaneously carried the null genotypes forboth GSTT1 and GSTM1 showed a stronger risk association (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.33-2.85;P < 0.001). In conclusion, the GSTT1 and GSTM1 polymorphisms, but not GSTP1, maymodulate the CRC risk among Chinese.

miR-124 Inhibits Growth and Invasion of Gastric Cancer by Targeting ROCK1

Hu, Cong-Bing,Li, Qiao-Lin,Hu, Jian-Fei,Zhang, Qiang,Xie, Jian-Ping,Deng, Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.16

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as critical regulators of genes involved in many biological processes. Aberrant alteration of miRNAs have been found in many cancers, including gastric cancer (GC), but the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Herein, we investigated the role of miR-124 in GC. We found that its expression was significantly reduced in both GC tissue samples and cell lines. Forced expression of miR-124 suppressed GC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, the Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK1) was identified as a direct target of miR-124 in GC cells. Finally, silencing of ROCK1 showed similar effects as miR-124 overexpression, while supplementation of ROCK1 remarkably restored the cell growth and invasion inhibited by miR-124. Together, our data demonstrate that miR-124 acts as a tumor suppressor by targeting ROCK1, and posit miR-124 as a novel strategy for GC treatment.

Selection of Reference Genes for Real-time Quantitative PCR Normalization in the Process of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici Infecting Wheat

Li-hua Xie,Xin Quan,Jie Zhang,Yan-yan Yang,Run-hong Sun,Ming-cong Xia,Bao-guo Xue,Chao Wu,Xiao-yun Han,Ya-nan Xue,Li-rong Yang 한국식물병리학회 2019 Plant Pathology Journal Vol.35 No.1

Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici is a soil borne pathogenic fungus associated with wheat roots. The accurate quantification of gene expression during the process of infection might be helpful to understand the pathogenic molecular mechanism. However, this method requires suitable reference genes for transcript normalization. In this study, nine candidate reference genes were chosen, and the specificity of the primers were investigated by melting curves of PCR products. The expression stability of these nine candidates was determined with three programs-geNorm, Norm Finder, and Best Keeper. TUBβ was identified as the most stable reference gene. Furthermore, the exopolygalacturonase gene (ExoPG) was selected to verify the reliability of TUBβ expression. The expression profile of ExoPG assessed using TUBβ agreed with the results of digital gene expression analysis by RNA-Seq. This study is the first systematic exploration of the optimal reference genes in the infection process of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici.

The Hardware Cost and Computing Accuracy Trade-off in Multipliers using Imprecise 4-2 Compressors for Image Processing Applications

Yongqiang Zhang,Cong He,Xiaoyue Chen,Guangjun Xie 대한전자공학회 2022 IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing & Computing Vol.11 No.3

Approximate computing has been widely used in image processing applications to significantly reduce the hardware cost of circuits; however, this induces a sacrifice in computing accuracy. The compromise between accuracy and hardware cost in approximate multipliers has not been investigated yet. To address this issue, this paper proposes a set of approximate 8×8 Dadda multipliers built by using an efficient imprecise 4-2 compressor. The compressor introduces symmetrical errors into the truth table of the exact design to reach a simpler structure. Furthermore, as an important image processing application, image multiplication is implemented with the proposed multipliers. Synthesis and simulation results show that the overall performance of the multipliers varies depending on the various assessment criteria. Utilization of the modified compressor in the multipliers results in area, delay, and power reductions of 38%-72%, 14%-33%, and 39%-77%, respectively, compared to the exact design, while maintaining acceptable computing accuracy in image multiplication. According to the results, the proposed multipliers achieve a better trade-off between energy efficacy and computing accuracy than the existing designs, which could be certified as options for exact multipliers in image processing.

Hybrid S-ALOHA/TDMA Protocol for LTE/LTE-A Networks with Coexistence of H2H and M2M Traffic

( Nannan Sui ),( Cong Wang ),( Wei Xie ),( Youyun Xu ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2017 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.11 No.2

The machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is featured by tremendous number of devices, small data transmission, and large uplink to downlink traffic ratio. The massive access requests generated by M2M devices would result in the current medium access control (MAC) protocol in LTE/LTE-A networks suffering from physical random access channel (PRACH) overload, high signaling overhead, and resource underutilization. As such, fairness should be carefully considered when M2M traffic coexists with human-to-human (H2H) traffic. To tackle these problems, we propose an adaptive Slotted ALOHA (S-ALOHA) and time division multiple access (TDMA) hybrid protocol. In particular, the proposed hybrid protocol divides the reserved uplink resource blocks (RBs) in a transmission cycle into the S-ALOHA part for M2M traffic with small-size packets and the TDMA part for H2H traffic with large-size packets. Adaptive resource allocation and access class barring (ACB) are exploited and optimized to maximize the channel utility with fairness constraint. Moreover, an upper performance bound for the proposed hybrid protocol is provided by performing the system equilibrium analysis. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared with pure S-ALOHA and pure TDMA protocol under a target fairness constraint of 0.9, our proposed hybrid protocol can improve the capacity by at least 9.44% when λ₁:λ ₂=1:1 and by at least 20.53% when λ₁: λ₂=10:1, where λ₁:λ₂ are traffic arrival rates of M2M and H2H traffic, respectively.

A novel elsinochrome A derivative: a study of drug delivery and photodynamic activity

Zhang, Yang,Xie, Jie,Zhang, Luyong,Li, Cong,Chen, Hongxia,Gu, Ying,Zhao, Jingquan Korean Society of Photoscience 2009 Photochemical & photobiological sciences Vol.8 No.12

Elsinochrome A (EA) possesses the highest singlet-oxygen quantum yield (0.98) amongst the perilenoquinoid pigments and may be suitable as a phototherapeutic drug. However, there have been virtually no studies into its medicinal applications. Based on the analysis of chemical derivatives of hypocrellins (the same family as EA), 5-(3-mercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid)-substituted elsinochrome A (MPEA) with an amphiphilicity was designed and synthesized by considering drug delivery and biological activity requirements. MPEA possesses a water solubility of 5.1 mg $mL^{-1}$, which is just sufficient to enable dissolution at a clinically acceptable concentration, while its partition coefficient (n-octanol/phosphate buffered saline) of 7 guarantees affinity to biological targets. MPEA could photogenerate semiquinone anion radicals and reactive oxygen species, especially singlet oxygen, at a yield of 0.73, which approaches that for hypocrellin B. Biological tests confirmed that the photodynamic activity of MPEA was as high as 60% of that of its parent EA, which is significantly higher than that of most other photosensitizers.

Enhanced carrier separation in g-C3N4/MoO3-x heterostructures towards efficient phenol removal

Tong Song,Cong Xie,Quande Che,Ping Yang 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.122 No.-

Two-dimensional (2D)/2D g-C3N4/MoO3-x heterojunctions were constructed for enhanced photocatalyticphenol removal. The oxygen vacancies in MoO3-x help to extend absorption in a full solar spectrum especiallyin near-infrared (NIR) region. Improved charge transfer path preserved photogenerated electronsand holes with powerful enough redox abilities, which simultaneously improved phenol photodegradationperformance and photocatalytic activation efficiency of peroxydisulfate (PDS). In full solar spectrumactivated PDS system, the phenol removal efficiency using g-C3N4/MoO3-x heterostructures reached 98%within 60 min. For the contribution of PDS activation process, active species trapping experiment and insituopen-circuit potentials (OCP) measurement indicated that radical and non-radical pathways jointlypromoted the elimination of phenol. The existence of oxygen vacancies promoted the formation ofcatalyst-PDS* complex and thus facilitated the electron transfer process, which exerted crucial effectas non-radical pathway. This result provided an ideal catalyst for photocatalytic persulfate activation systemin the field of environmental remediation.