The effects of light colour on female rabbit reproductive performance and the expression of key genes in follicular development

Xiaoqing Pan,Xinglong Wang,Le Shao,Jie Yang,Feng Qin,Jian Li,Xia Zhang,Pin Zhai 한국축산학회 2022 한국축산학회지 Vol.64 No.3

The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of light colour on rabbit reproductive performance and the expression of key follicular development genes. Rabbits (n = 1,068, 5 months old, 3.6–4.4 kg live body weight) were divided randomly into four groups, housed individually in wire mesh cages and exposed to red, green, blue, and white light-emitting diode (LED) light (control). The lighting schedule was 16 L : 8 D-15 d / 150 lx / 6:00 am–22:00 pm (3 d preartificial insemination to 12 d postartificial insemination). Red light and white light affected the conception rate and kindling rate and increased the total litter size at birth (p < 0.05). The effects of red light on litter size at weaning, litter weight at weaning, and individual weight at weaning increased compared with the green and blue groups. The effects of red light on live litter size at birth were increased compared with those in the blue group (p < 0.05). Compared to white light, green and blue light reduced the number of secondary follicles (p < 0.05). Compared to red light, green and blue light reduced the number of tertiary follicles (p < 0.05). Compared with white light, red LED light resulted in greater ovarian follicle stimulating hormone receptor and luteinizing hormone receptor mRNA expression (p < 0.05). Compared with green and blue LED light, red LED light resulted in greater B-cell lymphom-2 mRNA expression (p < 0.05). Compared with green LED light, red LED light inhibited FOXO1 mRNA expression in rabbit ovaries (p < 0.05). Red light can affect the reproductive performance of female rabbits and the expression of key genes for follicular development.

A Pilot Clinical Study to Investigate the Hypomethylating Properties of Freeze-dried Black Raspberries in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome or Myeloproliferative Neoplasm

Dong Athena,Pan Xiaoqing,Lin Chien-Wei,Huang Yi-Wen,Krause Hayden,Pan Pan,Baim Arielle,Thomas Michael J,Chen Xiao,Yu Jianhua,Michaelis Laura,Liu Pengyuan,Wang Li-Shu,Atallah Ehab 대한암예방학회 2022 Journal of cancer prevention Vol.27 No.2

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms (MDS/MPN) are bone marrow disorders characterized by cytopenias and progression to acute myeloid leukemia. Hypomethylating agents (HMAs) are Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies for MDS and MDS/MPN patients. HMAs have improved patients’ survival and quality of life when compared with other therapies. Although HMAs are effective in MDS and MDS/MPN patients, they are associated with significant toxicities that place a large burden on patients. Our goal is to develop a safer and more effective HMA from natural products. We previously reported that black raspberries (BRBs) have hypomethylating effects in the colon, blood, spleen, and bone marrow of mice. In addition, BRBs exert hypomethylating effects in patients with colorectal cancer and familial adenomatous polyposis. In the current study, we conducted a pilot clinical trial to evaluate the hypomethylating effects of BRBs in patients with low-risk MDS or MDS/MPN. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated before and after three months of BRB intervention. CD45+ cells were isolated from PBMCs for methylation analysis using a reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing assay. Each patient served as their own matched control, with their measurements assessed before intervention providing a baseline for post-intervention results. Clinically, our data showed that BRBs were well-tolerated with no side effects. When methylation data was combined, BRBs significantly affected methylation levels of 477 promoter regions. Pathway analysis suggests that BRB-induced intragenic hypomethylation drives leukocyte differentiation. A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of BRB use in low-risk MDS or MDS/ MPN patients is warranted.

Enhanced conductivity at orthorhombic–rhombohedral phase boundaries in BiFeO3 thin films

Heo, Yooun,Hong Lee, Jin,Xie, Lin,Pan, Xiaoqing,Yang, Chan-Ho,Seidel, Jan Nature Publishing Group 2016 NPG Asia Materials Vol.8 No.-

<P>Enhanced properties in modern functional materials can often be found at structural transition regions, such as morphotropic phase boundaries (MPB), owing to the coexistence of multiple phases with nearly equivalent energies. Strain-engineered MPBs have emerged in epitaxially grown BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films by precisely tailoring a compressive misfit strain, leading to numerous intriguing phenomena, such as a massive piezoelectric response, magnetoelectric coupling, interfacial magnetism and electronic conduction. Recently, an orthorhombic-rhombohedral (O-R) phase boundary has also been found in tensile-strained BFO. In this study, we characterise the crystal structure and electronic properties of the two competing O and R phases using X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscope and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). We observe the temperature evolution of R and O domains and find that the domain boundaries are highly conductive. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal that the conductivity is thermally activated for R-O boundaries. STEM observations point to structurally wide boundaries, significantly wider than in other systems. Therefore, we reveal a strong correlation between the highly conductive domain boundaries and structural material properties. These findings provide a pathway to use phase boundaries in this system for novel nanoelectronic applications.</P>

CT-Based Radiomics Signature for Preoperative Prediction of Coagulative Necrosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Xu Kai,Liu Lin,Li Wenhui,Sun Xiaoqing,Shen Tongxu,Pan Feng,Jiang Yuqing,Guo Yan,Ding Lei,Zhang Mengchao 대한영상의학회 2020 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.21 No.6

Objective: The presence of coagulative necrosis (CN) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) indicates a poor prognosis, while the absence of CN indicates a good prognosis. The purpose of this study was to build and validate a radiomics signature based on preoperative CT imaging data to estimate CN status in ccRCC. Materials and Methods: Altogether, 105 patients with pathologically confirmed ccRCC were retrospectively enrolled in this study and then divided into training (n = 72) and validation (n = 33) sets. Thereafter, 385 radiomics features were extracted from the three-dimensional volumes of interest of each tumor, and 10 traditional features were assessed by two experienced radiologists using triple-phase CT-enhanced images. A multivariate logistic regression algorithm was used to build the radiomics score and traditional predictors in the training set, and their performance was assessed and then tested in the validation set. The radiomics signature to distinguish CN status was then developed by incorporating the radiomics score and the selected traditional predictors. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the predictive performance. Results: The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the radiomics score, which consisted of 7 radiomics features, was 0.855 in the training set and 0.885 in the validation set. The AUC of the traditional predictor, which consisted of 2 traditional features, was 0.843 in the training set and 0.858 in the validation set. The radiomics signature showed the best performance with an AUC of 0.942 in the training set, which was then confirmed with an AUC of 0.969 in the validation set. Conclusion: The CT-based radiomics signature that incorporated radiomics and traditional features has the potential to be used as a non-invasive tool for preoperative prediction of CN in ccRCC.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Rhizoctonia solani-resistant and -Susceptible Rice Cultivars Reveals the Importance of Pathogen Recognition and Active Immune Responses in Host Resistance

Guo-Liang Wang,Shaohong Qu,Zhengjie Yuan,Yu Zhang,Guojuan Xu,Dongling Bi,Haiyan Qu,Xiaowei Zou,Xiaoqing Gao,Haihe Yang,Haiyan He,Xuli Wang,Jiandong Bao,Shimin Zuo,Xuebiao Pan,Bo Zhou 한국식물학회 2018 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.61 No.3

Rice sheath blight (SB), caused by Rhizoctoniasolani (R. solani), is a major threat to rice productionworldwide. The molecular mechanisms of the SB resistancein rice are poorly understood. The transcriptomes of the SBresistantrice cultivar YSBR1 and the susceptible cultivarLemont were analyzed after R. solani infection. A total of7624 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identifiedat one or more timepoints in a cultivar. 5526 and 5618 DEGswere differentially expressed in Lemont and YSBR1,respectively. YSBR1 exhibited stronger and earlier transcriptionalresponse to R. solani than Lemont. Gene ontology enrichmentanalysis revealed that genes that encode cell wall-modifyingand glycosyl-degrading enzymes or anti-microbial proteinswere specifically induced in YSBR1 at 6 hpi. MapMananalysis revealed that more DEGs related with cell wall, β-glucanses, respiratory burst, phenylpropanoids and ligninwere highly induced by R. solani in YSBR1 than in Lemont. The results also showed that receptor-like kinases and jasmonicacid signaling may play important roles in host resistance toR. solani. This study highlights potential candidate genes andsignaling pathways involved in rice sheath resistance and canhelp to further clarify the mechanistic events underlyingresistance and susceptibility to R. solani.