Publications by authors named "Yukai Lu"

Background: There are scarce data on risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in Asian populations. Our goal was to advance knowledge on reproductive -related risk factors for EOC in a large population of Asian women.

Methods: This study used pooled individual data from baseline questionnaires in 11 prospective cohorts (baseline years, 1958-2015) in the Asia Cohort Consortium.

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  • Ionizing radiation (IR) can damage hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), causing myelosuppression, but the protective effects of moderate exercise against this damage are still being studied.
  • This research shows that long-term moderate exercise helps protect HSCs from IR injury by generating carnosine in skeletal muscles, which supports HSC function and reduces bone marrow damage.
  • Carnosine, transported to HSCs via a specific mechanism, inhibits the activity of the p53 protein, leading to enhanced HSC survival and proliferation after IR exposure—suggesting that exercise or carnosine supplementation could be beneficial strategies against IR-related damage.
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The maintenance of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) functional integrity is essential for effective hematopoietic regeneration when suffering from injuries. Studies have shown that the innate immune pathways play crucial roles in the stress response of HSCs, whereas how to precisely modulate these pathways is not well characterized. Here, we identify the E3 ubiquitin ligase tripartite motif-containing 47 (Trim47) as a negative regulator of the mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS)-mediated innate immune pathway in HSCs.

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A key method to produce trapped and laser-cooled molecules is the magneto-optical trap (MOT), which is conventionally created using light red detuned from an optical transition. In this work, we report a MOT for CaF molecules created using blue-detuned light. The blue-detuned MOT (BDM) achieves temperatures well below the Doppler limit and provides the highest densities and phase-space densities reported to date in CaF MOTs.

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  • * Researchers analyzed data from nearly 14,000 Japanese individuals aged 65 and older, using a Markov model to estimate DFLE across different education levels and social participation statuses.
  • * Findings indicate that DFLE in individuals with lower education levels can be comparable to those with higher education when social participation is encouraged, highlighting the potential to bridge the gap in health outcomes linked to education.
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  • - The study analyzed lung cancer risk related to reproductive factors among 308,949 Asian women across four countries, finding inconsistent results in previous research.
  • - Parous women (those who have given birth) were found to have a significantly lower risk of lung cancer incidence and mortality compared to nulliparous women, especially among smokers.
  • - Higher ages at first childbirth were associated with decreased lung cancer risk, while hormone replacement therapy users showed a greater likelihood of developing non-small cell lung cancer. Future research is needed to explore these findings further.
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Entanglement is crucial to many quantum applications, including quantum information processing, quantum simulation, and quantum-enhanced sensing. Because of their rich internal structure and interactions, molecules have been proposed as a promising platform for quantum science. Deterministic entanglement of individually controlled molecules has nevertheless been a long-standing experimental challenge.

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  • Body fatness is highlighted as a potential risk factor for biliary tract cancer (BTC), with established correlations between obesity and cholelithiasis (gallstones).
  • A comprehensive analysis of data from over 905,000 participants across 21 studies in Asia found that higher body mass index (BMI) correlates with increased BTC mortality, especially in females.
  • The study indicates that while obesity is linked to BTC mortality in women without gallstones, the relationship is less clear in men and when gallstones are present, suggesting complex interactions between BMI, gender, and gallstone presence.
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Introduction: Although lung cancer prediction models are widely used to support risk-based screening, their performance outside Western populations remains uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the performance of 11 existing risk prediction models in multiple Asian populations and to refit prediction models for Asians.

Methods: In a pooled analysis of 186,458 Asian ever-smokers from 19 prospective cohorts, we assessed calibration (expected-to-observed ratio) and discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]) for each model.

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Importance: Despite evidence of an association between reproductive factors and endometrial cancer risk, prospective studies have been conducted mainly in non-Asian countries.

Objective: To assess the association between reproductive factors, such as number of deliveries, age at menarche, or menopause, and endometrial cancer risk.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used pooled individual data from 13 prospective cohort studies conducted between 1963 and 2014 in the Asia Cohort Consortium.

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We report on a novel bichromatic fluorescent imaging scheme for background-free detection of single CaF molecules trapped in an optical tweezer array. By collecting fluorescence on one optical transition while using another for laser cooling, we achieve an imaging fidelity of 97.7(2)% and a nondestructive detection fidelity of 95.

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  • The study investigates the relationship between sleep duration and the risk of endometrial cancer in Japanese women due to increasing global incidence of the disease.
  • A total of 36,537 women participated, providing data on their sleep patterns and undergoing follow-up for endometrial cancer cases.
  • The results showed no significant link between sleep duration and cancer incidence, with hazard ratios indicating minimal variation between different sleep duration categories compared to a baseline of 7-8 hours.
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  • The study aimed to explore the link between dairy consumption and the risk of developing dementia in older Japanese adults aged 65 and above, following 11,637 individuals for up to 5.7 years.
  • Results indicated that moderate dairy intake could be linked to a slightly reduced risk of dementia, with milk and yogurt consumers showing a lower incidence, while daily cheese consumers had an increased risk.
  • The findings suggest that low dairy or milk consumption might decrease the likelihood of developing dementia, but more research is needed to clarify these associations.
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Background: Our study aimed to investigate the association between psychological distress and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE).

Methods: In 2006, a cohort study was conducted of 12,365 Japanese individuals aged ≥65 years, who were followed-up for 13 years. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale and was categorized into no (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-12), and serious distress (13-24).

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Background: The role of reverse causation in the association between psychological distress and incident dementia remains unclear. We investigated whether psychological distress is a risk factor for, or prodromal symptom of, dementia.

Methods: A longitudinal analysis of psychological distress with incident dementia was conducted among 12,076 Japanese individuals (age ≥65 years) followed for 5.

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Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside at the top of the hematopoietic hierarchy, exhibiting a unique capacity to self-renew and differentiate into all blood cells throughout the lifetime. However, how to prevent HSC exhaustion during long-term hematopoietic output is not fully understood. Here, we show that the homeobox transcription factor Nkx2-3 is required for HSC self-renewal by preserving metabolic fitness.

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Hematopoietic toxicity due to ionizing radiation (IR) is a leading cause of death in nuclear incidents, occupational hazards, and cancer therapy. Oxymatrine (OM), an extract originating from the root of Sophora flavescens (Kushen), possesses extensive pharmacological properties. In this study, we demonstrate that OM treatment accelerates hematological recovery and increases the survival rate of mice subjected to irradiation.

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Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and leukemia stem cells (LSCs) have robust self-renewal potential, which is responsible for sustaining normal and malignant hematopoiesis, respectively. Although considerable efforts have been made to explore the regulation of HSC and LSC maintenance, the underlying molecular mechanism remains obscure. Here, we observe that the expression of thymocyte-expressed, positive selection-associated 1 (Tespa1) is markedly increased in HSCs after stresses exposure.

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Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) possess great self-renewal and multidirectional differentiation abilities, which contribute to the continuous generation of various blood cells. Although many intrinsic and extrinsic factors have been found to maintain HSC homeostasis, the precise regulation of hematopoiesis under stress conditions is poorly understood. In this study, we show that melanocortin receptor 5 (MC5R) is abundantly expressed in hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPCs).

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Background: Platelet shedding from mature megakaryocytes (MKs) in thrombopoiesis is the critical step for elevating circulating platelets fast and efficiently, however, the underlying mechanism is still not well-illustrated, and the therapeutic targets and candidates are even less.

Objectives: In order to investigate the mechanisms for platelet shedding after vasopressin treatment and find new therapeutic targets for thrombocytopenia.

Methods: Platelet production was evaluated both in vivo and in vitro after arginine vasopressin (AVP) administration.

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  • The study investigates the connection between oral self-care practices and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) among older individuals with tooth loss, highlighting that tooth loss is linked to shorter DFLE.
  • An analysis of data from 14,206 older Japanese adults revealed that DFLE varies significantly by the number of remaining teeth, with greater DFLE seen in those with more teeth.
  • The results indicate that maintaining oral self-care, such as frequent brushing and using dentures, can lead to an increase in DFLE by up to 3.1 years for older adults with fewer teeth.
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  • * Participants were categorized based on changes in walking habits: remained inactive, became inactive, became active, and remained active.
  • * Results showed that those who increased their walking time had a DFLE up to 2 years longer than those who stayed inactive, highlighting the health benefits of regular walking for older adults.
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  • A study was conducted to examine the link between dairy consumption and thyroid cancer risk among Japanese individuals, using data from two large cohort studies.
  • The analysis involved 64,340 participants aged 40-79 and recorded cancer cases over more than 1 million person-years of follow-up.
  • Results indicated that higher dairy consumption was associated with a lower risk of thyroid cancer in women with a BMI of 25 kg/m or more.
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Recent work with laser-cooled molecules in attractive optical traps has shown that the differential ac Stark shifts arising from the trap light itself can become problematic, limiting collisional shielding efficiencies, rotational coherence times, and laser-cooling temperatures. In this Letter, we explore trapping and laser cooling of CaF molecules in a ring-shaped repulsive optical trap. The observed dependences of loss rates on temperature and barrier height show characteristic behavior of repulsive traps and indicate strongly suppressed average ac Stark shifts.

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