• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4063-4070
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• 2016

Background: Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genes may contribute to susceptibility to lung cancer because of their critical involvement in mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the role of CYP2E1 rs2031920 and COMT rs4680 in a case-control study involving 462 lung cancer cases and 379 controls in Japanese. Logistic regression was used to assess adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Multiplicative and additive interactions with cigarette smoking or alcohol use were also examined. Results: Neither CYP2E1 rs2031920 nor COMT rs4680 was associated with lung cancer risk overall. However, smokers with the CC genotype of CYP2E1 rs2031920 (OR = 3.57, 95% CI = 2.26 - 5.63) presented a higher risk of lung cancer than those with at least one T allele (OR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.70 - 4.98) as compared to never-smokers with at least one T allele (reference). Subjects with excessive drinking and the CC genotype of CYP2E1 rs2031920 had a significantly higher risk (OR = 2.22, 95% CI =1.39 - 3.56) than appropriate drinkers with at least one T allele. A similar tendency was observed between COMT rs4680 and either smoking or drinking habits. There were no multiplicative or additive interactions between the polymorphisms and either smoking or alcohol use. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that CYP2E1 rs2031920 and COMT rs4680 are not major contributors to lung cancer risk in our Japanese population. Future studies on the genetics of lung cancer in Japanese and their environment interactions are required.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.228-241
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• 2016

In our previous study, we reported that a novel endophytic bacterium Bacillus oryzicola YC7007 has suppressed bacterial diseases of rice via induced systemic resistance and antibiotic production. This endophytic strain, B. oryzicola YC7007 was used as a biological control agent against bakanae disease of rice caused by Fusarium fujikuroi, and its mechanism of interaction with the pathogen and the rice was further elucidated. Root drenching with B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension reduced the disease severity of bakanae significantly when compared with the untreated controls. The treatments of B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension ($2.0{\times}10^7cfu/ml$) to the rice rhizosphere reduced bakanae severity by 46-78% in pots and nursery box tests containing autoclaved and non-autoclaved soils. Moreover, in the detached rice leaves bioassay, the development of necrotic lesion and mycelial expansion of F. fujikuroi were inhibited significantly by spraying the culture filtrate of B. oryzicola YC7007. Drenching of ethyl acetate extracts of the culture filtrate to the rhizosphere of rice seedlings also reduced the bakanae disease severity in the plant culture dish tests. With the root drenching of B. oryzicola YC7007 suspension, the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide was observed at an early stage of rice seedlings, and a hormonal defense was elicited with and without pathogen inoculation. Our results showed that the strain B. oryzicola YC7007 had a good biocontrol activity against the bakanae disease of rice by direct inhibition, and was also capable of inducing systemic resistance against the pathogen via primed induction of the jasmonic acid pathway.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3957-3960
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• 2015

Background: Several studies have examined the relationship between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use, abortions and breast cancer, with mixed results. Hormonal changes associated with OCP use and abortion may increase risk of breast cancer over time, but there is a lack of studies studying this association in Saudi Arabian women. Materials and Methods: We thererfore conducted a case control study in 192 women (92 as cases and 100 as controls), aged 30 to 65, and collected information on variables including examples related to study objectives and those which may confound findings. The Chi square test was used to detect associations between various factors and risk of breast cancer. Results: We found no evidence of interaction between history of abortion or frequency of abortion and breast cancer risk (Chi square=0.422, p =0.420 and 1, p =0.169) respectively. Oral contraceptives did not confer risk for breast cancer overall (OR=0.276, 95%CI 0.092-0.829, p=0.524), while long term use of OCP was associated with increased risk of breast cancer (OR=0.297, 95%CI 0.158-0.557, p=0.001), with higher association for those who used 10 years or more of OCPs (OR=0.282, 95%CI 0.095-0.835, p=0.02). Age at first use of OCPs had no effect on breast cancer risk (p=0.452) or age at diagnosis (p=0.074). Conclusions: Prolonged use of OC (more than 10 years) may be associated with increased risk of breast cancer in Saudi women. Larger population based studies are needed to confirm this finding in this population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7479-7486
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the interaction between the presence of a polymorphism of the XRCC1 gene and known risk factors for colorectal cancer in Thailand. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted in Thailand. The participants were 230 histologically confirmed new cases and 230 controls matched by sex and age and recruited from the same hospital. Information about demographic characteristics, life style, and dietary habits was collected using structured interviews, and blood samples were taken which were used for the detection of a homozygous and heterozygous polymorphisms of XRCC1. Associations were assessed using multiple conditional logistic regression. Results: In the univariate analysis, factors found to be significantly associated with an increased risk for CRC were the presence of the XRCC1 AA homozygote (OR= 4.95; 95% CI: 1.99-12.3), a first degree family history of cancer (OR= 1.74; 95% CI: 1.18-2.58), and a high frequency of pork consumption (OR= 1.49; 95% CI: 1.00-2.21). Intakes of fish fruit and vegetables appeared to be protective factors, but the associations were not statistically significant. In the multivariate analysis only the XRCC1 AA homozygote polymorphism and a family history of cancer emerged as risk factors (OR= 4.96; 95% CI: 1.90- 12.95 and OR=1.80; 95% CI: 1.18-2.72, respectively). Conclusions: While the XRCC1 AA homozygote and a family history of cancer were found to be associated with an increased risk of CRC, none of the dietary intake variables were clearly identified as risk or protective factors. There is a need for further research to determine the reasons for this.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8705-8708
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• 2014

Disrupted transforming growth factor-${\beta}$ (TGF-${\beta}$) signaling is involved in the development of various types of cancer and the TGF-${\beta}$ receptor II (TGFBR2) is a key mediator of TGF-${\beta}$ growth inhibitory signals. It is reported that the G-875A polymorphism in TGFBR2 is implicated in risk of various cancers. However, results for the association between this polymorphism and cancer remain conflicting. To derive a more precise estimation, a meta-analysis of 3,808 cases and 4,489 controls from nine published case-control studies was performed. Our analysis indicated that G-875A is associated with a trend of decreased cancer risk for allele A versus(vs.) allele G [odds ratio (OR) =0.64, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.55-0.74], as well as for both dominant model [(A/A+G/A) vs. G/G, OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.64-0.90] and recessive model [A/A vs. (G/G+G/A), OR=0.74, 95% CI: 0.59-0.93). However, larger scale primary studies are required to further evaluate the interaction of TGFBR2 G-875A polymorphism and cancer risk in specific cancer subtypes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3253-3260
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• 2014

Background: A case-control study was conducted to evaluate the effect of household exposure, dietary habits, smoking and Glutathione S-Transferases M1, T1 polymorphisms on lung cancer among women in Mizoram, India. Materials and Methods: We selected 230 newly diagnosed primary lung cases and 460 controls from women in Mizoram. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate adjusted odds ratio (OR). Results: Exposure of cooking oil fumes (p<0.003), wood as heating source for cooking (p=0.004), kitchen inside living room (p=0.001), improper ventilated house (p=0.003), roasting of soda in kitchen (p=0.001), current smokers of tobacco (p=0.043), intake of smoked fish (p=0.006), smoked meat (p=0.001), Soda (p<0.001) and GSTM1 null genotype (p=0.003) were significantly associated with increased risk of lung cancer among women in Mizoram. Significantly protective effect was observed for intake of bamboo shoots (p=<0.001) and egg (p<0.001). A clear increase in dose response gradient was observed for total cooking dish years. Risk for lung cancer tends to increase with collegial effect of indoor environmental sources (p=0.022). Significant correlation was also observed for interaction of GST polymorphisms with some of dietary habits. Conclusions: We confirmed the important role of exposure of cooking oil emission and wood smoke, intake of smoked meat, smoked fish and soda (an alkali preparation used as food additives in Mizoram) and tobacco consumption for increase risk of lung cancer among Women in Mizoram.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.461-474
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• 2020

Analysing the incompatible deformation and damage evolution around the tunnels in mixed strata is significant for evaluating the tunnel stability, as well as the interaction between the support system and the surrounding rock mass. To investigate this issue, confined compression tests were conducted on upper-soft and lower-hard strata specimens containing a circular hole using a rock testing system, the physical mechanical properties were then investigated. Then, the incompatible deformation and failure modes of the specimens were analysed based on the digital speckle correlation method (DSCM) and Acoustic Emission (AE) data. Finally, numerical simulations were conducted to explore the damage evolution of the mixed strata. The results indicate that at low inclination angles, the deformation and v-shaped notches inside the hole are controlled by the structure plane. Progressive spalling failure occurs at the sidewalls along the structure plane in soft rock. But the transmission of the loading force between the soft rock and hard rock are different in local. At high inclination angles, v-shaped notches are approximately perpendicular to the structure plane, and the soft and hard rock bear common loads. Incompatible deformation between the soft rock and hard rock controls the failure process. At inclination angles of 0°, 30° and 90°, incompatible deformations are closely related to rock damage. At 60°, incompatible deformations and rock damage are discordant due that the soft rock and hard rock alternately bears the major loads during the failure process. The failure trend and modes of the numerical results agree very well with those observed in the experimental results. As the inclination angles increase, the proportion of the shear or tensile damage exhibits a nonlinear increase or decrease, suggesting that the inclination angle of mixed strata may promote shear damage and restrain tensile damage.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2020

Objective : Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fear of social threat and exhibits limbic hyper-reactivity toward social stimuli such as emotional faces. A previous study identified the uncinate fasciculus (UF) sub-tract as particularly related to facial memory. To explore the white matter tract relating to face-specific brain regions, we investigated the UF sub-tract in SAD. Methods : The diffusion tensor images of 22 patients with SAD and 20 healthy controls were analyzed with tractography. The UF sub-tract was delineated using the regions of interest of face patches in the anterior temporal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex, and fractional anisotrophy (FA) and total number of streamlines (ST) were analyzed. We examined the group comparison of FA and ST of the UF sub-tract and correlations of FA and ST with the social anxiety symptoms such as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE) in SAD. Results : There were no group differences in FA and ST of the UF sub-tract. However, negative correlations were observed between ST of the right UF sub-tract and severity of social anxiety symptoms (LSAS, r_s=-0.480, p=0.024; SIAS, r_s=-0.580, p=0.005; SPS, r_s=-0.590, p=0.004; FNE, r_s=-0.675, p=0.001) in patients with SAD. Conclusion : Although patients with SAD did not show quantitative abnormalities in the UF sub-tact connecting face-specific brain regions, this structure seems to play a role in the symptom severity of SAD.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4435-4438
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• 2015

p21 is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, which can arrest cell proliferation and serve as a tumor suppressor. Though many studies were published to assess the relationship between p21 rs1059234 polymorphism and various cancer risks, there was no definite conclusion on this association. To derive a more precise quantitative assessment of the relationship, a large scale meta-analysis of 5,963 cases and 8,405 controls from 16 eligible published case-control studies was performed. Our analysis suggested that rs1059234 was not associated with the integral cancer risk for both dominant model [(T/T+C/T) vs C/C, OR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.84-1.18] and recessive model [T/T vs (C/C+C/T), OR=1.03, 95% CI: 0.93-1.15)]. However, further stratified analysis showed rs1059234 was greatly associated with the risk of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN). Thus, larger scale primary studies are still required to further evaluate the interaction of p21 rs1059234 polymorphism and cancer risk in specific cancer subtypes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5861-5865
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• 2014

High risk forms of the human papilloma virus (HPV) are generally accepted as necessary causative agents for cervical cancer. Recently, a possible relation between HPV and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has also been noticed. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of HPV infection in OSCCs in Wuhan city. DNA samples were collected from fresh tissues in 200 patients with OSCC and 68 normal controls. The polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing were used to identify the HPV types in the samples. The prevalence of HPV of all types in the OSCC group was higher than in the control group (55/200 vs 2/68, OR=11.5, 95% CI=2.6-50.2). HPV16 and HPV18 were the main types detected, with HPV6 was the only low-risk type identified. High-risk HPV types HPV16 and HPV18 are prevalent in OSCC patients and may participate in the development of OSCC with traditional risk factors, tobacco and alcohol, possibly exerting synergistic effects. The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that those who smoked, consumed alcohol and with HPV infection have the highest risk of developing oral cancer (OR=13.3, 95% CI=3.1-56.8). Adjusted for age, smoking and alcohol use, HPV infection was independently associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma.