Publications by authors named "Lihong Ren"

Background: Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide, while carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) is more likely to cause ischemic cerebrovascular events. Emerging evidence suggests that cuproptosis may be associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This study aims to explore the potential mechanisms linking cuproptosis and CAS.

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South Korea and China have implemented increasingly stringent mitigation measures to reduce the health risks from PM exposure, jointly conducting a ground-based air quality observation study in Northeast Asia. Dispersion normalized positive matrix factorization (DN-PMF) was used to identify PM sources in Seoul and Beijing and assess the effectiveness of the seasonal management programs (SMPs) through a comparative study. Samples were collected during three periods: January-December 2019, September 2020-May 2021, and July 2021-March 2022.

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Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a hepatocyte inflammation based on hepatocellular steatosis, yet there is no effective drug treatment. Atherosclerosis (AS) is caused by lipid deposition in the endothelium, which can lead to various cardiovascular diseases. NASH and AS share common risk factors, and NASH can also elevate the risk of AS, causing a higher morbidity and mortality rate for atherosclerotic heart disease.

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Atmospheric PM samples were collected in Heze, Shandong Province, from a total of three sampling sites at Heze College, Huarun Pharmacy, and a wastewater treatment plant between October 15, 2017 and January 31, 2018, to determine the concentrations of 21 metal elements in PM using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The degree of elemental enrichment was also discussed, the health risks and potential heavy metal ecological risks were assessed. The results showed that (PM) ranged from 26.

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Organic nitrogen emissions from light-duty gasoline vehicles (LDGVs) is believed to play a pivotal role in atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in urban environments. Here, the characterization of organic nitrogen emitted by LDGVs with varying engine displacements at different speed phases was analyzed using a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) at molecular level. For the LDGV with small engine displacements, the nitrogen-containing organic (CHON) compounds exhibit higher abundance, molecular weight, oxygen content and aromaticity in the extra-high-speed phase.

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Obesity is a complex, multifactorial disease. The incidence of overweight and obesity has doubled worldwide since 1980, and nearly one-third of the world population is now classified as overweight or obese. Obesity rates are increasing in all age groups and for both sexes, regardless of geographic region, race, or socioeconomic status, although they are generally higher in older adults and women.

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Background: This study aimed to investigate and analyze the risk factors for non-etiology-specific infantile spasms (IS) and unrelieved clinical symptoms after treatment.

Methods: Eighty-eight children with IS who were treated at our hospital from March 2018 to December 2021 were included in the study. The children were divided into etiology-specific (n = 46) and nonetiology-specific (n = 42) groups, based on the diagnostic results, and remission (n = 45) and nonremission (n = 43) groups, based on clinical outcomes after treatment.

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Uric acid nephropathy (UAN) is caused by purine metabolism disorders. UAN rat models were established in SD rats. The modeling rats received different doses of hispidulin (10, 20, 50 mg/mL).

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The SARS-CoV-2 variants have been emerging and have made great challenges to current vaccine and pandemic control strategies. It is urgent to understand the current immune status of various Chinese populations given that the preexisting immunity has been established by national vaccination or exposure to past variants. Using sera from 85 individuals (including 21 convalescents of natural infection, 15 cases which suffered a breakthrough infection after being fully vaccinated, and 49 healthy vaccinees), we showed significantly enhanced neutralizing activities against SRAS-CoV-2 variants in convalescent sera, especially those who had been fully vaccinated.

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A short-range, compact, real-time pulsed laser rangefinder is constructed based on pulsed time-of-flight (ToF) method. In order to reduce timing discrimination error and achieve high ranging accuracy, gray-value distance correction and temperature correction are proposed, and are realized with a field programmable gate array (FPGA) in a real-time application. The ranging performances-such as the maximum ranging distance, the range standard deviation, and the ranging accuracy-are theoretically calculated and experimentally studied.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Central North China Plain (NCP) is a major source of air pollution affecting the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, leading to government abatement measures starting in 2017 to improve air quality.
  • Observational analysis from 2017 to 2019 showed a significant 16% reduction in particulate matter (PM) concentration, indicating an overall improvement in air quality, with autumn-winter PM dominated by sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium.
  • The decrease in PM levels was largely attributed to reductions in secondary aerosols, coal combustion, and other sources due to these abatement measures, while vehicle emissions saw an increase.
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Based on the homodyne detection, a compact and cost-effective all-fiber laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) with high resolution is presented. For the signal processing, the discrimination algorithm combined with the nonorthogonal correction is applied. The algorithm corrects the quadrature imbalance and other nonlinearity.

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The search for multiple escaping targets is a significant issue of cooperative control in multi-agent systems since targets consciously seek to avoid being captured. Moreover, the assumption of continuous observations in existing works is not always suitable due to the limit of measuring equipment and uncertain movement of targets. Therefore, the problem with searching for escaping targets, which can be more aptly labeled "multiple escaping-targets search with random observation conditions" (MESROC), is difficult to address by conventional methods.

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Background: Important differences in facial anatomy and how faces age must be considered when performing facelifts in Asian populations. Few facelift methods are specifically designed for Asian patients.

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of lateral superficial muscular aponeurotic system (SMAS)-stacking/SMAS-ectomy with orbicularis-malar fat repositioning.

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Objective: To verify the efficacy of eye acupuncture combined with conventional acupuncture in the treatment of dry eye syndrome with deficiency of liver and kidney.

Methods: A total of 90 patients with dry eye syndrome with deficiency of liver and kidney were randomly divided into an eye acupuncture combination with conventional acupuncture group (eye acupuncture combination group), a conventional acupuncture group and a western medication group, 30 cases in each group. In the western medication group, sodium hyaluronate eye drops were used 3 times a day, each time 1-2 drops, 10 days as one course for 3 courses; conventional acupuncture was applied at Jingming (BL 1), Cuanzhu (BL 2), Chengqi (ST 1), Fengchi (GB 20), Hegu (LI 4), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zusanli (ST 36), Guangming (GB 37) in the conventional acupuncture group; on the basis of the treatment in the conventional acupuncture, eye acupuncture was added at Shangjiao, Gan (liver), Shen (kidney), Pi (spleen) in the eye acupuncture combination group.

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Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common disease affecting pregnant women. Recent studies have suggested that competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), which compete with long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) for microRNA (miRNA or miR) binding and indirectly regulate miRNA targets through competing interactions, play a critical role in disease. In this study, we present a computationally integrated approach with which to construct a lncRNA‑mediated ceRNA network (LCEN) in GDM by integrating RNA interactions and expression data.

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MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been found to be upregulated in keloid tissue and to affect the proliferation and apoptosis of keloid fibroblasts; however, the possible mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of miR-21 in FasL-induced caspase-8 activation and the mitochondria-mediated apoptotic signaling pathway in keloid fibroblasts. Our study found that the protein level of FasL was decreased by miR-21 over-expression, while being enhanced by miR-21 inhibition in keloid fibroblasts.

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Purpose: Among multiple influential factors affecting facial symmetry, the role of soft tissue is often overlooked. Skin and skeletal differences between Asian and Caucasian people also require the adaptation of current techniques for Asian patients. This article aimed to explore the ability of individual facelift techniques to improve facial symmetry and reset youthful eye in Asian people, while a new method, called the grid method, was tried to evaluate the improvement in facial symmetry.

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Following the rapid development of China's economy, air pollution has become more and more serious. Air pollution in China presents complex pollution characterized by high PM and O concentration. This study presents an overview of the status of air quality and emission in China and discusses the temporal and spatial distribution of major pollutants (PM, PM, SO, NO, and O).

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In this paper, a computing speed improvement for the clonal selection algorithm (CSA) is proposed based on a degeneration recognizing (DR) method. The degeneration recognizing clonal selection algorithm (DR-CSA) is designed for solving complex engineering multimodal optimization problems. On each iteration of CSA, there is a large amount of eliminated solutions which are usually neglected.

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Background/aims: Although increased expression and gain function of transient receptor potential cation channel 6 (TRPC6) has been associated with the pathogenesis of some proteinuric glomerular diseases, it remains elusive how TRPC6 participates in the process of podocyte damage.

Methods: The potential signaling responsible for TRPC6 activation was investigated using immunoblot assays in an in vitro podocyte injury model induced by Adriamycin (ADR). Podocyte apoptosis was measured using FITC-conjugated Annexin V and Propidium Iodide staining.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to investigate air pollution transport in East Asia by measuring pollutants like SO2, NOx, CO, and O3 over the Yellow Sea in April 2011.
  • The results showed moderate levels of NOx and SO2, with CO having a higher average concentration and O3 levels exceeding previous findings, while pollutant concentrations were generally higher at low altitudes and near coastal areas.
  • Meteorological analysis confirmed the transport of polluted air from the continent to the measurement area, and the correlations between NOx, SO2, and O3 suggested specific regional sources and conditions affecting pollutant formation.
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Asthma is a common worldwide health burden, the prevalence of which is increasing. Recently, the biologically active form of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, has been reported to have a protective role in murine asthma; however, the molecular mechanisms by which vitamin D3 attenuates asthma‑associated airway injury remain elusive. In the present study, BALB/c mice were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) and were administered 100 ng 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (intraperitoneal injection) 30 min prior to each airway challenge.

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Several studies have demonstrated that Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) has a protective effect on endothelial cells damaged by various factors. To examine the role of APS in the endothelial inflammatory response, rat bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were isolated by density gradient centrifugation and identified by immunohistochemistry, then we established a model of inflammatory injury induced by thrombin and measured the effects of APS on EPC viability and proliferation by MTT assays. We also assayed the effect APS had on the inflammatory response, by examining the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, as well as the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors Flt-1 and KDR.

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