Browsing by Author "Zhang, X."
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Item Association between the aspartic acid D-repeat polymorphisms and osteoarthritis susceptibility: An updated systematic review and meta-analyses(Medicine (United States), 2018-11) Wang, H.; Zhang, X.; Wu, W.; Zhang, M.; Sam, N.B.; Niu, L.Objectives: Association between the D-repeat of asporin (ASPN) gene and osteoarthritis (OA) was still inconsistent. We performed this meta-analysis to systematically assess the D-repeat polymorphisms in OA susceptibility. Methods: Relevant studies were enrolled by searching databases. Odd ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used for evaluating the association between ASPN gene and OA. Heterogeneity was calculated using the Q statistic, and three different subgroup analyses were performed on ethnicity, gender, and OA positions respectively. False discovery rate (FDR) was applied to regulate the multiple comparisons. Results: Twelve qualified articles involving 5190 OA patients and 5167 healthy controls were included. With D13 polymorphism, Caucasian male patients have low OA susceptibility (P = .008, PFDR = .024, OR [95% CI] = 0.83 [0.73-0.95]). As to D14 polymorphism, all male patients (P = .0004, PFDR = .001, OR [95% CI] = 1.38 [1.15-1.64]), Asian male patients (P = .01, PFDR = .01, OR [95% CI] = 1.72 [1.11-2.66]), and Caucasian male patients (P = .005, PFDR = .001, OR [95% CI] = 1.32 [1.09-1.60]) have high OA susceptibility. In the pooled-population of KOA with D14 polymorphism, overall male patients (P = .03, PFDR = .045, OR [95% CI] = 1.35 [1.02-1.78]) and Asian male patients (P = .01, PFDR = .03, OR [95% CI] = 1.72 [1.11-2.66]) have high OA risk. With D16 polymorphism, Latin America patients may have high OA risk (P = .04, PFDR = .15, OR [95% CI] = 1.43 [1.02-2.01]). Conclusion: Our results suggest that D-repeat of ASPN gene is mainly associated with male patients. The D13 polymorphism plays a protective role for OA in Caucasians male individuals while D14 plays a risk factor for KOA in male patients.Item Contextualism as an important facet of individualism-collectivism: Personhood beliefs across 37 national groups(Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2013-01) Owe, E.; Vignoles, V.L.; Becker, M.; Brown, R.; Smith, P.B.; Lee, S.W.S.; Easterbrook, M.; Gadre, T.; Zhang, X.; Gheorghiu, M.; Baguma, P.; Tatarko, A.; Aldhafri, S.; Zinkeng, M.; Schwartz, S.J.; Des Rosiers, S.E.; Amponsah, B.Beliefs about personhood are understood to be a defining feature of individualism-collectivism (I-C), but they have been insufficiently explored, given the emphasis of research on values and self-construals. We propose the construct of contextualism, referring to beliefs about the importance of context in understanding people, as a facet of cultural collectivism. A brief measure was developed and refined across 19 nations (Study 1: N = 5,241), showing good psychometric properties for cross-cultural use and correlating well at the nation level with other supposed facets and indicators of I-C. In Study 2 (N = 8,652), nation-level contextualism predicted ingroup favoritism, corruption, and differential trust of ingroup and outgroup members, while controlling for other facets of I-C, across 35 nations. We conclude that contextualism is an important part of cultural collectivism. This highlights the importance of beliefs alongside values and self-representations and contributes to a wider understanding of cultural processes. © The Author(s) 2013.Item Elevated circulating IL-17 level is associated with inflammatory arthritis and disease activity: A meta-analysis(Clinica Chimica Acta, 2019-06-29) Sam, N.B.; Zhang, X.; Yuan, Y.; Pan, Z.; Ma, Y.; Wu, M.; Yang, J.; Han, R.; Chen, M.; Hu, X.; Liu, R.; Xu, S.; Pan, F.Objectives: Previous studies found that the interleukin (IL)-17 level was elevated in inflammatory arthritis, but results were inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association of IL-17 cytokine with osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods: Relevant studies were searched using databases. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated. Correlation coefficient was utilized to evaluate the relationship between IL-17 and disease activity of AS and RA. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis and meta-regression were applied to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Results: 83 records were enrolled. The IL-17 level was elevated in AS (SMD=2.348, P < .001), RA (SMD=1.502, P < .001), PsA (SMD=1.710, P < .001) and OA (SMD=1.192, P=.016), and similar results occurred in subgroup analysis. Furthermore, the IL-17 level was positively associated with disease activity of AS and RA. Conclusion: Circulating IL-17 level is significantly elevated in inflammatory arthritis and is related to the disease activity of AS and RA, suggesting that it plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of inflammatory arthritis (especially in AS and RA).Item Formation age and genesis of the Gongchangling Neoarchean banded iron deposit in eastern Liaoning Province: Constraints from geochemistry and SHRIMP zircon U-Pb dating(Precambrian Research, 2014-11) Han, C.; Xiao, W.; Su, B.-X.; Sakyi, P.A.; Chen, Z.; Zhang, X.; Ao, S.; Zhang, J.; Wan, B.; Zhang, Z.; Wang, Z.; Ding, J.The Gongchang iron deposit, a typical Algoma-type banded iron formation (BIF) deposit located in the Eastern Block of the North China Craton (NCC), is hosted in Neoarchean metamorphic rocks, including amphibolite, biotite leptynite, garnet biotite schist, plagioclase-hornblende schist, garnet chlorite schist, muscovite quartz schist and actinolite magnetite quartzite. Geochemical data suggest that protoliths of the amphibolites and biotite leptynite should be basalt and dacite, respectively. SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons from the plagioclase-hornblende schist shows that the Gongchangling iron deposit was formed at 2554±12Ma. Major elements and REE data of the ores indicate that the Gongchangling BIF precipitated from seawater, and the ultimate iron and silica origins may have been related to nearby volcanic activity. The δ18O values of quartz from the BIFs range between 9.1 and 12.9‰, suggesting that exotic high δ18O fluids were involved during metamorphism. The pyrite have δ34S values of range between -3.5‰ and 14.7‰, suggesting that mineralization were originally from metamorphism. Comparison of the mineralization age of the Gongchangling BIF with those of other local BIFs in North China and other cratons throughout the world indicates that the Gongchangling BIF formed coevally with the global BIF mineralization at ~2.5Ga. Taken together, these data suggest that the Gongchangling iron deposit was formed in a volcanic submarine environment in which hydrothermal fluids associated with volcanic activity supplied both iron and silica for the banded iron formations. © 2014 Elsevier B.V..Item Immunological unresponsiveness and apoptotic cell death of T cells in measles virus infection(Acta Paediatrica Japonica, 1995) Addae, M.M.; Komada, Y.; Zhang, X.; Sakurai, M.The phenotypic alterations associated with T cells during measles virus infection have been demonstrated and an attempt has been made to show programmed cell death (PCD) of T cells activated in vivo. During the acute phase of illness, activated T cells increased rapidly. Memory T cells (CD45RO+), especially CD8+ memory T cells also tend to increase. During the recovery phase, CD8+ T cells declined rapidly, and naive (CD45RA+) T cells increased in numbers. The anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody-induced expression of interleukin-2 receptor (CD25) was suppressed. However, the addition of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) caused the significant recovery of CD25 expression. In addition, PCD of activated T cells from measles patients was induced in culture. After triggering of the T cell receptor-CD3 complex, cells became more susceptible to PCD. Interestingly, the addition of PMA could inhibit PCD of activated T cells. Taken together, these data suggest unresponsiveness and activation-induced cell death of T cells during the primary response to measles virus antigens, depending on the activation status of protein kinase C.Item Maximizing efficiency of genomic selection in CIMMYT’s tropical maize breeding program(Springer, 2021) Atanda, S.A.; Olsen, M.; Burgueño, J.; Crossa, J.; Dzidzienyo, D.; Beyene, Y.; Gowda, M.; Dreher, K.; Zhang, X.; Prasanna, B.M.; Tongoona, P.; Danquah, E.Y.; Olaoye, G.; Robbins, K.R.The current strategy for large-scale implementation of genomic selection (GS) at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) global maize breeding program has been to train models using information from full-sibs in a “test-half-predict-half approach.” Although effective, this approach has limitations, as it requires large full-sib populations and limits the ability to shorten variety testing and breeding cycle times. The primary objective of this study was to identify optimal experimental and training set designs to maximize prediction accuracy of GS in CIMMYT’s maize breeding programs. Training set (TS) design strategies were evaluated to determine the most efficient use of phenotypic data collected on relatives for genomic prediction (GP) using datasets containing 849 (DS1) and 1389 (DS2) DH-lines evaluated as testcrosses in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Our results show there is merit in the use of multiple bi-parental populations as TS when selected using algorithms to maximize relatedness between the training and prediction sets. In a breeding program where relevant past breeding information is not readily available, the phenotyping expenditure can be spread across connected bi-parental populations by phenotyping only a small number of lines from each population. This significantly improves prediction accuracy compared to within-population prediction, especially when the TS for within full-sib prediction is small. Finally, we demonstrate that prediction accuracy in either sparse testing or “test-half-predict-half” can further be improved by optimizing which lines are planted for phenotyping and which lines are to be only genotyped for advancement based on GPItem Measured Energy Content of Frequently Purchased Restaurant Meals: Multi-Country Cross Sectional Study(BMJ (Online), 2018-12) Roberts, S.B.; Das, S.K.; Suen, V.M.M.; Pihlajamäki, J.; Kuriyan, R.; Steiner-Asiedu, M.; Taetzsch, A.; Anderson, A.K.; Silver, R.E.; Barger, K.; Krauss, A.; Karhunen, L.; Zhang, X.; Hambly, C.; Schwab, U.; Triffoni-Melo, A.D.T.; Taylor, S.F.; Economos, C.; Kurpad, A.V.; Speakman, J.R.OBJECTIVE: To measure the energy content of frequently ordered meals from full service and fast food restaurants in five countries and compare values with US data. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: 223 meals from 111 randomly selected full service and fast food restaurants serving popular cuisines in Brazil, China, Finland, Ghana, and India were the primary sampling unit; 10 meals from five worksite canteens were also studied in Finland. The observational unit was frequently ordered meals in selected restaurants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Meal energy content, measured by bomb calorimetry. RESULTS: Compared with the US, weighted mean energy of restaurant meals was lower only in China (719 (95% confidence interval 646 to 799) kcal versus 1088 (1002 to 1181) kcal; P<0.001). In analysis of variance models, fast food contained 33% less energy than full service meals (P<0.001). In Finland, worksite canteens provided 25% less energy than full service and fast food restaurants (mean 880 (SD 156) versus 1166 (298); P=0.009). Country, restaurant type, number of meal components, and meal weight predicted meal energy in a factorial analysis of variance (R2=0.62, P<0.001). Ninety four per cent of full service meals and 72% of fast food meals contained at least 600 kcal. Modeling indicated that, except in China, consuming current servings of a full service and a fast food meal daily would supply between 70% and 120% of the daily energy requirements for a sedentary woman, without additional meals, drinks, snacks, appetizers, or desserts. CONCLUSION: Very high dietary energy content of both full service and fast food restaurant meals is a widespread phenomenon that is probably supporting global obesity and provides a valid intervention target.Item A single-dose live-attenuated YF17D-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate(nature, 2021) Sanchez-Felipe, L.; Vercruysse, T.; Sharma, S.; Ma, J.; Lemmens, V.; Looveren, D.V.; Javarappa, M.P.A.; Boudewijns, R.; Malengier-Devlies, B.; Liesenborghs, L.; Kaptein, S.J.F.; De Keyzer, C.; Bervoets, L.; Debaveye, S.; Rasulova, M.; Seldeslachts, L.; Li, L.; Jansen, S.; Yakass, M.B.; Verstrepen, B.E.; Böszörményi, K.P.; Kiemenyi-Kayere, G.; van Driel, N.; Quaye, O.; Zhang, X.; ter Horst, S.; Mishra, N.; Deboutte, W.; Matthijnssens, J.; Coelmont, L.; Vandermeulen, C.; Heylen, E.; Vergote, V.; Schols, D.; Wang, Z.; Bogers, W.; Kuiken, T.; Verschoor, E.; Cawthorne, C.; Van Laere, K.; Opdenakker, G.; Velde, G.V.; Weynand, B.; Teuwen, D.E.; Matthys, P.; Neyts, J.; Thibaut, H.J.; Dallmeier, K.The expanding pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requires the development of safe, efcacious and fast-acting vaccines. Several vaccine platforms are being leveraged for a rapid emergency response1 Here we describe the development of a candidate vaccine (YF-S0) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that uses live-attenuated yellow fever 17D (YF17D) vaccine as a vector to express a noncleavable prefusion form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen. We assess vaccine safety, immunogenicity and efcacy in several animal models. YF-S0 has an excellent safety profle and induces high levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), mice (Mus musculus) and cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis), and—concomitantly—protective immunity against yellow fever virus. Humoral immunity is complemented by a cellular immune response with favourable T helper 1 polarization, as profled in mice. In a hamster model2 and in macaques, YF-S0 prevents infection with SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, a single dose conferred protection from lung disease in most of the vaccinated hamsters within as little as 10 days. Taken together, the quality of the immune responses triggered and the rapid kinetics by which protective immunity can be attained after a single dose warrant further development of this potent SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.