Biomedical subjects

Zhijian Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Zhijian Zhang.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2025

Clinical and Multiorgan Proteomics Characteristics of the Diverse Fatal Phase in Super Elderly Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Descriptive Study.

This study aims to identify the risk factors associated with clinical outcomes and the proteomic changes in organs related to fatal SARS-CoV-2 infection within the super-elderly population. This retrospective analysis included all elderly individuals with COVID-19 admitted to the Second Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from December 2022 to January 2023. The follow-up period ended on March 30, 2023. During this time, epidemiological, demographic, laboratory, and outcome data were analyzed descriptively. Proteomic sequencing was performed on super-elderly patients who died from COVID-19 at different stages of the disease. A total of 352 elderly COVID-19 patients, with a mean age of 89.84 ± 8.54 years, were included in this study. During a median follow-up period of 98 days, 79 patients died. Deceased patients were older and more likely to have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, with a lower prevalence of lipid-lowering therapy. The number of deaths in the acute and post-acute phases were 34 and 45, respectively. Proteomics data suggest that the immune systems of patients who died in the acute phase underwent a more rapid and severe onslaught. Patients in the post-acute phase showed higher levels of viral genome replication and a more robust immune response. However, the over-activation of the immune system led to systemic organ dysfunction. Effective management of comorbidities may improve the prognosis of COVID-19 in super-elderly patients. The continuous replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its subsequent impact on the immune system are critical determinants of survival time in this demographic.

Humans↗

PubMed2007

Evaluation of nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate on nitrogen leaching in undisturbed soil columns.

The application of nitrogen fertilizers leads to various ecological problems such as nitrate leaching. The use of nitrification inhibitors (NI) as nitrate leaching retardants is a proposal that has been suggested for inclusion in regulations in many countries. In this study, the efficacy of the new NI, 3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate (DMPP), was tested under simulated high-risk leaching situations in two types of undisturbed soil columns. The results showed that the accumulative leaching losses of soil nitrate under treatment of urea with 1.0% DMPP, from columns of silt loam soil and heavy clay soil, were 66.8% and 69.5% lower than those soil columns tested with regular urea application within the 60 days observation, respectively. However, the losses of ammonium leaching were reversely increased 9.7% and 6.7% under the former treatment than the latter one. Application of regular urea with 1.0% DMPP addition can reduce about 59.3%-63.1% of total losses of inorganic nitrogen via leaching. The application of DMPP to urea had stimulated the inhibition effects of DMPP on the ammonium nitrification process in the soil up to 60 days. It is proposed that the DMPP could be used as an effective NI to control inorganic N leaching losses, minimizing the risk of nitrate pollution in shallow groundwater.

Fertilizers↗

PubMed2006

Phosphorus interception in floodwater of paddy field during the rice-growing season in TaiHu Lake Basin.

A field experiment located in TaiHu Lake Basin in China was conducted, by application of superphosphate or a mixture of superphosphate with manure, to elucidate the interception of P export during a typical rice growing season through 'zero-drainage water management' combined with sound irrigation, rainfall forecasting and field drying. P concentrations in floodwater rapidly declined before the first event of field drying, and subsequently tended to return to the background levels. Before the first field drying TPP was the predominant P form in floodwater on fields with no P input, DRP on plots that received superphosphate only, and DOP on plots treated with the mixture of superphosphate and manure. Thereafter TPP became the major form. No P export was found from the paddy fields, but a retention of 0.65kgha(-1), mainly due to soil P sorption. The results recommend the zero-drainage water management for full-scale areas for minimizing P export.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2005

A bench-scale aeration study using batch reactors on swine manure stabilization to control odour in post treatment storage.

A bench-scale study on swine manure stabilization for odour control was conducted using batch aeration reactors. In trial 1, two aeration lengths, i.e., 0.5 and 4.0 day, were used under uncontrolled ambient temperature that increased gradually over the experimental period. While in trial 2, a 16.0-day aeration scheme was employed under constant 17 degrees C. An airflow rate of 1.2L/s/m(3) was used for both trials to aerate batch reactors containing finishing pig manure with initial total solids (TS) levels ranging from 0.5 to 4.0%. Manure stabilization during the 90-day post-treatment storage was evaluated by the changes in organic materials, nitrogen and volatile fatty acids (VFA). The odour generation potential in the treated manure was determined by the changes in VFA. Up to 827 mL of liquid was lost due to aeration related foaming. The reductions in total volatile solids (TVS), 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and VFA during storage were improved when aeration length increased. Low solids levels offered a more advantageous circumstance for manure stabilization and odour control. Biodegradation of organic matter, removal of nitrogen, and breakdown of VFA would increase with increasing ambient temperature. VFA removals in manure under 16.0-day aeration were higher than those under 0.5- and 4.0-day aeration; however, VFA regeneration started to exceed its consumption on day 20 (4 days after the aeration treatment). BOD(5) was the best estimate of VFA concentration in the aerated manure during storage. The 4.0-day aeration scheme was sufficient to stabilize manure to effectively assuage odour generation potential during the 90-day storage under increasing ambient temperature conditions.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Localization of NGF and TrkA at mitotic apparatus in human glioma cell line U251.

It has previously been implicated that nerve growth factor (NGF) with its high-affinity receptor tyrosine kinase A (TrkA) could play an important role in the growth modulation of human tumor cells, such as glioblastoma multiform cell lines and human breast cancer cell lines. However, the direct mitogenic effects of NGF and TrkA in these tumor cells still remain to be elucidated. Herein we show, by immunofluorescence staining, that NGF was colocalized with gamma-tubulin at the centrosomes or the spindle poles throughout the cell cycle and phosphorylated TrkA was colocalized with alpha-tubulin at mitotic spindle in the glioma cell line U251. The results suggest that NGF concentrated to centrosome can recruit its receptor TrkA there and cause phosphorylation of the latter. The phosphorylated TrkA with the tyrosine kinase activity may phosphorylate the tubulin and promote the mitotic spindle assembly. By these mechanisms, NGF can modulate the mitosis of human glioma cells.

Cell Line, Tumor↗

PubMed2005

Analysis on the mechanism of Helicobacter pylori-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cell line BGC-823.

Helicobacter pylori (Hp) can induce apoptosis of gastric cancer cells. The mechanism of the process still needs further elucidating. This study was aimed to analyse the mechanism through which Hp induce apoptosis in human gastric cancer cell line BGC-823. The extract from VacA(+) and CagA(+) Helicobacter pylori strain NCTC11637 was applied to induce apoptosis. The expression, breakdown, and phosphorylation of proteins were probed by Western blotting with specific antibodies. Apoptosis of the cells was detected by flow cytometry. The results showed that incubating the cells with Hp extract caused the breakdown of both caspase-3 and -1. The breakdown was dose-dependent and correlated with the occurrence of the Hp extract-induced apoptosis. Among the substrates of caspase-3, DNA fragment factor (DFF) was degraded during incubation with Hp extract and a small fragment was released. However, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) did not break down during the incubation. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor Genistein prevented both the break down of caspase-3 and the apoptosis induced by Hp extract. MAPK/ERK inhibitor PD98059 did not prevent the apoptosis induced by Hp extract. The expression and activity of JNK, and the expression of Bcl-2 and Fas proteins did not change during the incubation with Hp extract. The results suggested that Hp extract initiated apoptosis in BGC-823 cells through activating tyrosine kinase, caspase-1, -3, and DFF.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed2004

Manure sampling procedures and nutrient estimation by the hydrometer method for gestation pigs.

Three manure agitation procedures were examined in this study (vertical mixing, horizontal mixing, and no mixing) to determine the efficacy of producing a representative manure sample. The total solids content for manure from gestation pigs was found to be well correlated with the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the manure, with highly significant correlation coefficients of 0.988 and 0.994, respectively. Linear correlations were observed between the TN and TP contents and the manure specific gravity (correlation coefficients: 0.991 and 0.987, respectively). Therefore, it may be inferred that the nutrients in pig manure can be estimated with reasonable accuracy by measuring the liquid manure specific gravity. A rapid testing method for manure nutrient contents (TN and TP) using a soil hydrometer was also evaluated. The results showed that the estimating error increased from +/-10% to +/-30% with the decrease in TN (from 1000 to 100 ppm) and TP (from 700 to 50 ppm) concentrations in the manure. Data also showed that the hydrometer readings had to be taken within 10 s after mixing to avoid reading drift in specific gravity due to the settling of manure solids.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Settling characteristics of nursery pig manure and nutrient estimation by the hydrometer method.

The hydrometer method to measure manure specific gravity and subsequently relate it to manure nutrient contents was examined in this study. It was found that this method might be improved in estimation accuracy if only manure from a single growth stage of pigs was used (e.g., nursery pig manure used here). The total solids (TS) content of the test manure was well correlated with the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the manure, with highly significant correlation coefficients of 0.9944 and 0.9873, respectively. Also observed were good linear correlations between the TN and TP contents and the manure specific gravity (correlation coefficients: 0.9836 and 0.9843, respectively). These correlations were much better than those reported by past researchers, in which lumped data for pigs at different growing stages were used. It may therefore be inferred that developing different linear equations for pigs at different ages should improve the accuracy in manure nutrient estimation using a hydrometer. Also, the error of using the hydrometer method to estimate manure TN and TP was found to increase, from +/- 10% to +/- 50%, with the decrease in TN (from 700 ppm to 100 ppm) and TP (from 130 ppm to 30 ppm) concentrations in the manure. The estimation errors for TN and TP may be larger than 50% if the total solids content is below 0.5%. In addition, the rapid settling of solids has long been considered characteristic of swine manure; however, in this study, the solids settling property appeared to be quite poor for nursery pig manure in that no conspicuous settling occurred after the manure was left statically for 5 hours. This information has not been reported elsewhere in the literature and may need further research to verify.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

[Dynamics characteristic of phosphorus loss potential in subsurface runoff from rice field].

A special rice field experiment was conducted to investigate the characteristic and mechanism of phosphorus (P) loss potential in subsurface runoff from rice field. Teflon Suction Cups (TSC) were inserted into tested plots in 15-20 cm in the rice field for water sampling dynamically. The range of molybdate reactive phosphorus (MRP) in sub-surface runoff were 0.110-0.273 mg/L, 0.085-0.285 mg/L during growth seasons of early rice and later rice, respectively. The magnitude of MRP concentrations in subsurface runoff in 15-20 cm from rice field was more consistent with trend of soil P accumulation (expressed as Olsen-P) due to P application. P concentration and its expected loss loading in the subsurface runoff in 15-20 cm in the rice field were not affected by P application combined with manure.

Agriculture↗

PubMed2002

[The effect of postoperative transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization on disease-free survival after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate postoperative transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for improving the disease-free survival of HCC patients after hepatectomy. METHODS: 1 725 HCC patients were followed up after hepatectomy retrospectively. Of 1 457 patients who were followed-up completely, 209 had postoperative TACE. The 1 457 patients were divided into ten groups according to tumor thrombus, small HCC, capsular invasion, vascular invasion and cirrhosis. The disease-free survival was analyzed between subgroups of weather postoperative TACE was performed in every group. Software SAS 6.12 and EGRET package were used. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used to calculate the disease-free survival rates. RESULTS: There were no difference of the disease-free survival between the subgroups in no capsular invasion and in no hepatic cirrhosis groups. CONCLUSION: Postoperative TACE is helpful in improving the disease-free survival of HCC patients after hepatectomy except those with integrated tumor envelope or no hepatocirrhosis. It is important to prolong the long-term results of operation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

[Prevention and treatment of complications after hepatectomy].

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevention and treatment of complications after hepatectomy. METHODS: From January 1998 to December 1999, 1 762 patients with pathologically proven primary liver cancer underwent hepatectomy. The types of resection included lobectomy, segmental resection and local hepatectomy. RESULTS: The total complication rate was 4.09% and the total mortality was 0.40%. The rates of intraoperative bleeding, postoperative bleeding, hepatic failure, stockpiling fluid of the pleural cavity, residual fluid under the diaphragm, bile leakage and infection of incision were 0.96%, 0.28%, 0.51%, 1.87%, 0.17%, 0.17% and 0.11% respectively. The mortality of the former three complications were 0.06%, 0.06% and 0.28% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The complications can be prevented effectively and the mortality can be decreased markedly after hepatectomy by strict control of the indications, sufficient preoperative preparation, better surgical skills and close observation of postoperative state and comprehensive postoperative treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

[Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the significance of the method of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (PRFA) combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: Thirty patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were divided into PRFA group and TACE + PRFA group between January 2000 and July 2001. All patients were followed up to examine the value of AFP, MRI or CT. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used for the analysis of disease-free survival and the cumulative survival rate. RESULTS: The complete necrosis rates were 86.7% (13/15) and 26.7% (4/15) in the TACE + PRFA group and group PRFA group respectively. The rates of AFP positive down to negative were 66.7% (6/9) for the former and 20% (2/10) for of the latter, and the six-month disease-free survival rates were 100% (13/13) and 75% (3/4) in the two groups. The 1-, 1.5- and 2-year survival rates of the group TACE + PRFA were 100%, 100% and 66.7% respectively. The survival rates of 1 and 1.5 years of the group PRFA only were 80% and 40%. CONCLUSIONS: For those hepatocellular carcinomas over 3 cm in size, located in the porta hepatis, or with indistinct boundary or the presence of foci, TACE can be performed first and then followed by PRFA in suitable time. This method can enlarge the necrosis range and increase the rate of complete necrosis of tumors, thereby decrease the recurrence and improve the disease-free survival and total survival of patients.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

[The therapeutic effects of basic fibroblast growth factor injected into tympanic cavity on sensorineural deafness].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of basic fibroblast factor (bFGF) ototopically injected into tympanic cavity on sensorineural deafness. METHOD: 40 cases (50 ears) suffering from sensorineural deafness have been treated with bFGF,which was injected into tympanic cavity from 1998 to 1999. The hearing threshold of post-therapy was compaired with that of pre-therapy. RESULT: The total therapeutic effective rate of bFGF on the deafness was 96%. The hearing threshold of post-therapy was much lower than that of pre-therapy in average. CONCLUSION: The bFGF could improve the hearing of sensorineural deafness patients. The method of ototopically injecting bFGF to tympanic cavity was safe and applicable.

Administration, Topical↗