Publications by authors named "Zehua Zhu"

Object: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent and currently incurable autoimmune disease. Existing conventional medical treatments are limited in their efficacy, prolonged disease may lead to bone destruction, joint deformity, and loss of related functions, which places a huge burden on RA patients and their families. For millennia, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), exemplified by the Gui-Zhi-Shao-Yao-Zhi-Mu decoction (GZSYZM), has been demonstrated to offer distinct therapeutic advantages in the management of RA.

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The economic development of N-11 countries has been significantly influenced by the contributions of natural resources (NAT) and economic globalization (EG). These countries have been facing drastic environmental problems for several years. Hence, it is imperative to ascertain the environmental ramifications of natural resource extraction activities in the N-11 nations.

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Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This review explores the emerging roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) within extracellular vesicles (exosomes) in breast cancer. circRNAs, known for their stability and tissue-specific expression, are aberrantly expressed in breast cancer and regulate critical cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and apoptosis, positioning them as promising biomarkers.

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Aims: To investigate the diagnostic and predictive role of F-FDG PET/CT in patients with autoimmune encephalitis (AE) as a whole group.

Methods: Thrty-five patients (20 females and 15 males) with AE were recruited. A voxel-to-voxel semi-quantitative analysis based on SPM12 was used to analyze F-FDG PET/CT imaging data compared to healthy controls.

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Background: Studies on single-target PET imaging of gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR), prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), or neurotensin receptor 1(NTR1) have been reported. However, the performance of these three targets in the progression of PCa remains unclear. Our study aims to compare the expression of GRPR, PSMA, and NTR1 in patients with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), prostate cancer (PCa), and lymph node metastasis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor (PIP) can mimic malignant tumors in imaging tests, making it essential to distinguish between PIP and lung cancer through a study combining PET/CT imaging and blood tests.
  • The study involved 27 PIP patients and 28 lung cancer patients, analyzing differences in PET metabolic and blood test results, and utilized a machine learning approach with a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to improve diagnostic accuracy.
  • Results showed significant differences in the PET and blood test parameters between the two groups, with combined use of these features enhancing SVM performance to classify PIP and lung cancer, indicating a promising method for better diagnosis.
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Background: There is no trial to assess the benefits of periodically using biologics during the pollen season in patients with uncontrolled seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), who have moderate-to-severe symptoms even after standard-of-care. This trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the add-on administration of stapokibart, a humanised monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin-4 receptor alpha, in patients with uncontrolled SAR.

Methods: In this investigator-initiated, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, eligible patients received either stapokibart 600-300 mg weekly (QW), every 2 weeks (Q2W), or placebo QW for 4 weeks.

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Phosphorus removal has been explored for a long time, however sustainable phosphorus adsorption and recovery with adsorbents recycling is rarely reported. This work proposes a sustainable phosphorus recycling route with calcium-modified powdered activated carbon with chitosan (Ca-PAC-CTS). The morphology, functional groups and crystal structure of Ca-PAC-CTS were characterized.

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Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is an important tool for prostate cancer diagnosis, and accurate segmentation of MR prostate regions by computer-aided diagnostic techniques is important for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. In this paper, we propose an improved end-to-end three-dimensional image segmentation network using a deep learning approach to the traditional V-Net network (V-Net) network in order to provide more accurate image segmentation results. Firstly, we fused the soft attention mechanism into the traditional V-Net's jump connection, and combined short jump connection and small convolutional kernel to further improve the network segmentation accuracy.

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A novel Mg-loaded chitosan carbonized microsphere (MCCM) was prepared for simultaneous adsorption of ammonium and phosphate in this study, through the investigation of preparation procedures, addition ratio, and preparation temperature. Pollutants removals by MCCM were more acceptable with 64.71% for ammonium and 99.

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Blood-based biomarkers have been considered as a promising method for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The reliability and accuracy of plasma core AD biomarkers, including phosphorylated tau (P-tau181), total tau (T-tau), Aβ42, and Aβ40, have also been confirmed in diagnosing AD and predicting cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition in Western populations, while fewer research studies have ever been conducted in China's Han population. In this study, we investigated the capability of plasma core AD biomarkers in predicting cerebral Aβ deposition burden among the China Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorder Initiative (CANDI) cohort consisting of cognitively normal (CN), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD dementia, and non-Alzheimer's dementia disease (Non-ADD).

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[F]BAY-94-9172, [F]AV-45, and [F]GE-067 were FDA approved positron emission tomography (PET) imaging radiotracer of β-amyloid plaques (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the radiochemical synthesis requires multi-step reactions and complex procedure. Recently, a protocol for radiochemical synthesis of sulfur fluoride exchange (SuFEx) using ultrafast F/F isotopic exchange had been reported.

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The long-term application of sensors in a high-temperature environment needs to address several challenges, such as stability at high temperatures for a long time, better wiring interconnection of sensors, and reliable and steady connection of the sensor and its external equipment. In order to systematically investigate the reliability of thin coatings at high temperatures for a long time, Au and Cr layers were deposited on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering. Additionally, samples with different electrode thicknesses were annealed at different temperatures for a varied duration to study the effect of electrode thickness, temperature, and duration on the reliability of samples.

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Brucellosis, a zoonosis, can cause an inflammatory response in most organs and continues to be a public health problem in some endemic areas, whereas neurobrucellosis is a morbid form of brucellosis that affects the central nervous system (CNS) with poor prognosis. Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy is an autoimmune disease, and there have been no reports of a infection, leading to GFAP astrocytopathy. We report the case of a patient with a positive and high level of GFAP antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), following a infection.

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A graphene membrane acts as a highly sensitive element in a nano/micro-electro-mechanical system (N/MEMS) due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Here, a novel crossbeam structure with a graphene varistor protected by SiN is presented for N/MEMS mechanical sensors. It substantially overcomes the poor reliability of previous sensors with suspended graphene and exhibits excellent mechanoelectrical coupling performance, as graphene is placed on the root of the crossbeam.

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We aimed to use an individual metabolic connectome method, the Jensen-Shannon Divergence Similarity Estimation (JSSE), to characterize the aberrant connectivity patterns and topological alterations of the individual-level brain metabolic connectome and predict the long-term surgical outcomes in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). A total of 128 patients with TLE (63 females, 65 males; 25.07 ± 12.

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Background: Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the serious threats to the health of women worldwide, and accurate biomarkers are urgently demanded for early diagnosis of OC. We have previously confirmed that miR-205 promotes the invasion and metastasis of OC cells by inhibiting the expression of the tumor suppressor gene TCF21. In this study, we used liquid biopsy technology to detect the expression levels of the four genes, miR-205, CA125, HE4 and TCF21, in the exosomes of plasma of OC patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • The ITSN1 gene is crucial for brain development, with recent studies showing that de novo variants in this gene are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism and intellectual disability.
  • This study utilized trio exome sequencing on a patient with autism and other cognitive difficulties, along with data from other affected patients globally, to explore the genetic relationships and variants within the ITSN1 gene.
  • The findings revealed ten new patients with specific ITSN1 variants, indicating a strong connection to disorders such as autism and intellectual disability, and suggested that different types of mutations in ITSN1 affect its function and are more common in certain regions of the gene.
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We investigated whether a fluorine-18-fluorodeoxy glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT)-based radiomics model (RM) could predict the pathological mediastinal lymph node staging (pN staging) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing surgery. A total of 716 patients with a clinicopathological diagnosis of NSCLC were included in this retrospective study. The prediction model was developed in a training cohort that consisted of 501 patients.

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous disease enriched for mutations in PTEN and dysregulation of innate immune signaling. Here, we demonstrate that Rab7, a recently identified substrate of PTEN phosphatase activity, is also a substrate of the innate immune signaling kinases TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1)/IκB kinase ε (IKKε) on the same serine-72 (S72) site. An unbiased search for novel TBK1/IKKε substrates using stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture phosphoproteomic analysis identified Rab7-S72 as a top hit.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lamb-Shaffer syndrome (LAMSHF) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder linked to genetic changes in the SOX5 gene, primarily through microdeletions, affecting brain development and function.
  • The study analyzed data from 41 new patients with different SOX5 alterations to better understand the genetic variations and their impact on clinical symptoms.
  • Findings revealed that while most genetic changes disrupt SOX5's ability to bind DNA, leading to varying degrees of intellectual disability and language delays, the severity of symptoms doesn't strongly correlate with specific genetic alterations.
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Purpose: To define the clinical characteristics of patients with variants in TCF20, we describe 27 patients, 26 of whom were identified via exome sequencing. We compare detailed clinical data with 17 previously reported patients.

Methods: Patients were ascertained through molecular testing laboratories performing exome sequencing (and other testing) with orthogonal confirmation; collaborating referring clinicians provided detailed clinical information.

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Despite extensive efforts, oncogenic KRAS remains resistant to targeted therapy. Combined downstream RAL-TBK1 and MEK inhibition induces only transient lung tumor shrinkage in KRAS-driven genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). Using the sensitive KRAS;LKB1 (KL) mutant background, we identify YAP1 upregulation and a therapy-induced secretome as mediators of acquired resistance.

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Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest human malignancies and lack of effective diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Accumulating evidence suggests that the neurotensin (NT) and neurotensin receptors (NTRs) play key roles in pancreatic adenocarcinoma growth and survival. In this study, we not only evaluate the NTR1 expression in pancreatic cancer patient samples, but also explore the PET and fluorescence imaging of NTR1 expression in pancreatic cancer animal models.

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Article Synopsis
  • Autophagy plays a complex role in cancer, promoting tumor progression linked to KRAS activation while also inhibiting inflammation and tissue abnormalities.
  • In a study using a mouse model of pancreatitis, researchers found that loss of autophagy led to increased inflammation and immune cell infiltration, correlating with heightened levels of PD-L1, a protein that helps tumors evade immune detection.
  • The study suggests that blocking autophagy not only enhances inflammation but also offers a potential therapeutic strategy by using inhibitors like CYT387 to reduce tumor growth and immune evasion in pancreatic cancer.
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