Publications by authors named "HJ Liu"

Maize, a cornerstone of global food security, has undergone remarkable transformations through breeding, yet it faces mounting challenges in a changing world. In this review, we trace the historical successes of maize breeding which laid the foundation for present opportunities. We examine both the specific and shared breeding goals related to diverse geographies and end-use demands.

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Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) destroys intestinal mechanical barrier and causes apoptosis by triggering oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. Glutamine (Gln) can maintain normal intestinal function under various stressed or pathological conditions. Thereby, this study aims to evaluate the protection of glutamine on intestinal health of snakehead (Channa argus), specifically regarding the NF-κB/MLCK/MLC2 signaling pathway mediated by tight junction affecting oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis.

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Background: Limited information is available regarding the application of lung-protective ventilation strategies during one-lung ventilation (OLV) across mainland China. A nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate this issue in current clinical practice.

Methods: The survey covered various aspects, including respondent demographics, the establishment and maintenance of OLV, intraoperative monitoring standards, and complications associated with OLV.

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Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of toxic nitrobenzene to value-added aniline is of great significance in addressing the issues of energy crisis and environmental pollution. However, it is a considerable challenging and crucial to develop highly efficient and earth-abundant transition metal-based electrocatalysts with superior durability for the electro-hydrogenation of nitrobenzene due to the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, a facile approach is designed and introduced to constructing an integrated self-supported heterostructured Co Ni(OH)(CO)/Al(OH) nanoarrays (CoNiCH/Al(OH)) for the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrobenzoic acid (PNBA) to p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and its electrocatalytic mechanism for PNBA reduction is investigated.

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Fluorescence of cyanine dyes is often quenched in aqueous solution, limiting their application in water or biological system. In this work, a novel strategy of host-guest interaction based on cyanine derivatives containing auxochromes was proposed to enhance fluorescence in aqueous solution and cell imaging. By using the host (methylated β-cyclodextrin, M-β-CD) to inclusion and suppress the TICT effect of the dye, the fluorescence was significantly enhanced at lower host concentration.

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  • Triple semicircular canal plugging (TSCP) effectively alleviates vertigo in Meniere's disease (MD) patients, showing a 99% success rate in controlling symptoms.
  • The procedure carries a risk of hearing loss, with a reported rate of 22% among patients, which varies based on the duration of the disease and follow-up time.
  • TSCP is recommended as a surgical option for managing vertigo while preserving hearing in advanced MD patients.
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  • A study was conducted in Beijing to determine how common dementia is among elderly individuals and how geriatric syndromes affect dementia and mortality risks, using data from 2013 to 2015.
  • The study involved 2,935 elderly participants, revealing a dementia prevalence of 5.9%, with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia being the most common types, linked to various risk factors like aging and lower education levels.
  • Over a follow-up period of about 5.4 years, the study found that elderly individuals with dementia had significantly higher mortality rates compared to those without dementia, emphasizing the serious health impact of these conditions.
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Investigating the changes of phenotype and moleculars associated with aging with the increase of passage times of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSC), to explore the role of WW-containing transcriptional regulator 1 (WWTR1) in the aging mechanism. hDPSCs were cultured by tissue block method, and were divided into 4 groups according to the age, algebra, cell knockdown and overexpression of WWTR1 in hDPSCs. Group Ⅰ: hDPSCs from human teeth were further divided into youth group (15-25 years old) and group middle-aged group (40-50 years old) according to different ages.

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To retard starch retrogradation and improve bread quality, a novel maltotetraose-forming amylase (AhMFA) from Atopomonas hussainii was expressed in Komagataella phaffii. After high cell density fermentation, the enzyme activity reached a maximum level of 3032 U mL. AhMFA showed optimal activity at pH 6.

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The same cells can die with varied immunological consequences. For the purpose of cancer therapy, stronger immunogenic death of cancer cells is considered favorable. Membrane disruptive peptides are cytotoxic agents with tunable structures capable of not just killing heterogeneous cancer cells, but also inducing immunogenic death.

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  • Kernel dehydration rate (KDR) significantly influences maize harvesting and kernel quality, but its mechanisms are not fully understood.
  • Researchers discovered a quantitative trait locus (QTL) called qKDR1, which regulates the expression of a peptide gene, RPG, that produces a micropeptide (microRPG1) impacting KDR through ethylene signaling pathways.
  • Knockout experiments showed that loss of microRPG1 leads to quicker KDR, while overexpression or applying the micropeptide slows it down, providing insight for future maize breeding strategies.
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Giant tetrahedral molecules have sparked significant interest in the past decade due to their unique and diverse supramolecular nanostructures. The longer and bulkier peripheral substituents create deep molecular concavities and thus contribute to the different self-assembly behaviors compared to the conventional small tetrahedral molecules. In this study, a molecular giant tetrahedra, TetraNDI, was synthesized to investigate the important roles of the molecular concavities in the self-assembly mechanism.

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Objectives: To explore the associations of parental smoking and alcohol consumption during the periconceptional period and their interactions with risk of congenital heart disease (CHD) in offspring.

Methods: The parents of children with simple CHD aged 0 to 1 year (=683) were recruited as the case group, while the parents of healthy children aged 0 to 1 year (=740) served as the control group. A case-control study was conducted, and a questionnaire was used to collect information on perinatal exposures.

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Objective: The aim of the present study is to summarize the characteristics of anterior cerebral artery aneurysms and to explore the prognostic factors of microsurgical clipping treatment for anterior cerebral artery aneurysms.

Materials And Methods: A total of 90 anterior cerebral artery aneurysms (ACAAs) are reviewed from January 2000 to July 2019. Patients are categorized into good outcome group and poor outcome group according to Glasgow outcome scale scores.

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Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading malignant disease in numerous countries, including Taiwan with limited therapeutic options. Animal viruses including oncolytic avian reovirus (ARV) have the possibility to avoid pre-existing immunity in humans, while being safe and immunostimulatory. Here, we provide a novel insight into oncolytic ARV and UV-ARV-sensitized patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P-PBMCs) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) killing primary GC (PGC) cells through the surface TLR3 and TRAIL/DR4/DR5 immunogenic apoptosis pathway.

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  • The study established the glycans profile of D. officinale for the first time, identifying low polymerization glycans as linear α-D-1,4-glucans and high polymerization glycans as linear acetylated 1,4-glucomannan.
  • The research found that the content of acetyl groups and the mannose to glucose (M/G) ratio increased with the degree of polymerization of the glycans.
  • Additionally, it was demonstrated that natural D. officinale glycans provided protection against glucotoxicity-induced damage to pancreatic β-cells via the ERK1/2 signaling pathway.
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  • - PRP (platelet-rich plasma) is gaining attention in regenerative medicine as it helps heal wounds and reduces the need for antibiotics.
  • - Recent research combines PRP with an antimicrobial polysaccharide (carboxymethyl chitosan) to create a hydrogel that effectively inhibits bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.
  • - This new hydrogel not only fights infection but also enhances the growth of fibroblasts and collagen, speeding up the healing of infected wounds without antibiotics.
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  • A new toolkit has been created to facilitate whole genome alignment, processing, and analysis as long-read sequencing technologies advance, making individual complete genomes more accessible.
  • This toolkit supports various formats and offers features like alignment-based variant calling and visualization, enabling effective population-level genome analysis.
  • Developed in Rust for efficiency and safety, the software is free and open-source, available on GitHub, and capable of handling large datasets of numerous genomes.
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Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) textiles hold substantial potential for localized outdoor cooling of the human body without additional energy consumption, but their limited multifunctional integration severely hinders their practical application. Herein, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanoparticles were purposefully introduced into poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers via a facile electrospinning process, forming a large-scale and flexible PDRC textile with the desired antibacterial, UV-shielding, and self-cleaning capabilities. These prepared PDRC textiles present a weighted sunlight reflection rate of 92.

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Objective: To observe the intervention effect of comprehensive psychological interventions on the mental health of the elderly population.

Methods: 133 elderly aged 60 and above in two urban districts of Tianshui City from January 2020 to December 2020 were selected and divided into the intervention group (n=67) and the control group (n=66). The intervention group received comprehensive psychological interventions, with no intervention given to the control group.

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Objectives: To investigate how maternal gene polymorphisms and their interactions with periconceptional folic acid supplementation are associated with the incidence of ventricular septal defects (VSD) in offspring.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted, recruiting 426 mothers of infants with VSD under one year old and 740 mothers of age-matched healthy infants. A questionnaire survey collected data on maternal exposures, and blood samples were analyzed for genetic polymorphisms.

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To investigate the value of prognostic nutrition index (PNI) and systemic immunoinflammatory index (SII) for predicting pathological responses of patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The clinicopathological data of 326 patients with advanced GC who received NACT in Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University (The First People's Hospital of Changde City) from January 2017 to December 2021 were retrospectively collected. The SII and PNI of patients were calculated.

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We present the synthesis, structural characterization, and reactivity studies of a tetra-zinc complex supported by the bisphenoxymethanone ligands and its transformation into various di-zinc architectures. Our findings highlight the potential of these complexes in molecular recognition, supramolecular chemistry, and catalysis.

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