Prognostic Significance of the Peripheral Blood Absolute Monocyte Count in Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving Systemic Chemotherapy

Lin, Gui-Nan,Jiang, Xiao-Mei,Peng, Jie-Wen,Xiao, Jian-Jun,Liu, Dong-Ying,Xia, Zhong-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Background: The prognostic significance of the circulating absolute monocyte count (AMC) in patients with locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is uncertain. This study was designed to assess the association of circulating AMC with survival outcomes in patients diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic HCC receiving systemic chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: Between January 1, 2005 and December 30, 2012, locally advanced or metastatic HCC patients who had Child-Pugh stage A or B disease and received systemic chemotherapy were retrospectively enrolled. Patient features including gender, age, extrahepatic metastasis, Child-Pugh stage, serum alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) level and AMC were collected to investigate their prognostic impact on overall survival(OS). Results: A total of 216 patients were eligible for the study. The optimal cut-off value of AMC for OS analysis was $0.38{\times}10^9/L$. Median OS was 5.84 months in low-AMC group (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.23 to 6.45), and 5.21 months in high-AMC group (95% CI, 4.37 to 6.04; p=0.003). In COX multivariate analysis, elevated AMC remained as an independent prognostic factor for worse OS (HR, 1.578; 95% CI, 1.120 to 2.223, p=0.009). Conclusions: Our results indiicate that circulating AMC is confirmed to be an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with locally advanced or metastatic HCC receiving systemic chemotherapy.

Study on thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of FGM tubes resting on elastic foundations

Gui-Lin She,Yi-Ru Ren,Wan-Shen Xiao,Hai-Bo Liu 국제구조공학회 2018 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.66 No.6

This paper studies thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of functionally graded materials (FGM) tubes subjected to a uniform temperature rise and resting on elastic foundations via a refined beam model. Compared to the Timoshenko beam theory, the number of unknowns of this model are the same and no correction factors are required. The material properties of the FGM tube vary continuously in the radial direction according to a power function. Two ends of the tube are assumed to be simply supported and in-plane boundary conditions are immovable. Energy variation principle is employed to establish the governing equations. A two-step perturbation method is adopted to determine the critical thermal buckling loads and post-buckling paths of the tubes with arbitrary radial non-homogeneity. Through detailed parametric studies, it can be found that the tube has much higher buckling temperature and post-buckling strength when it is supported by an elastic foundation.

Taguchi Approach for Anti-heat Stress Prescription Compatibility in Mice Spleen Lymphocytes In Vitro

Xiao-yu Zhu,Gui-lin Cheng,Feng-hua Liu,Jin Yu,Yu-jie Wang,Tong-quan Yu,Jian-qin Xu,Ming Wang 대한약학회 2011 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.34 No.7

Heat stress (HS) may induce immunosuppression as well as inhibit the proliferation of lymphocytes. This study evaluated the effects on immune function of our prescription on splenic lymphocytes under HS as well as its compatibility. The effects of four herbal extracts from Agastache rugosa, Atractylodes lancea, Cortex Phellodendri, and Gypsum Fibrosum on heat treated splenic lymphocytes were investigated and the compatibility of the prescription was also explored by using the Taguchi method. This study revealed changes in proliferation by traditional Chinese medicines of splenic lymphocytes after HS. Proliferation in the HS group was significantly lower than the control group. Under HS, the effects of higher concentrations of Agastache rugosa (100 and 200 μg/mL), Atractylodes lancea (100 and 200 μg/mL), Cortex Phellodendri (50 and 100 μg/mL) and Gypsum Fibrosum (100 and 200 μg/mL) caused a significant increase on ConA/LPS-induced proliferation of lymphocytes than lower concentrations. We, therefore, conclude that the prescription of traditional Chinese medicines may recover splenic lymphocytes from the immunosuppression induced by HS. The Taguchi design, which allows rapid and high efficiency for the selection of the best conditions for our prescription on HS-treated splenic lymphocytes, demonstrated that Agastache rugosa (200 μg/mL), Atractylodes lancea (200 μg/mL), Cortex Phellodendri (100 μg/mL) and Gypsum Fibrosum (100 μg/mL)were the optimal conditions for the prescription. The validation experiment confirmed that our composition in optimum extraction conditions enhanced effects on ConA or LPS-stimulated lymphocytes under HS. The results showed that the Taguchi optimization approach is a suitable method for optimization of the composition of prescription.

NDE Techniques of Fiber Characterization in Spar Caps of Wind Turbine Blades using Ultrasonic Waves

Xiao-Long Shia,Hua Liang,Zi-Heng Zhou,Peng Zhang,Gui-Lin Zhang,조영태,우용득,임광희 한국생산제조학회 2023 한국생산제조학회지 Vol.32 No.3

Recently, ultrasonic waves (UT) have attracted attention as a tool for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) in various fields, including agriculture, medical engineering, and airport security. In this study, carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials are inspected during the fabrication process. Ultrasonic techniques are commonly used to evaluate composites in spar caps of wind turbine blades. Therefore, the fiber orientation and defects of composites are investigated using one-sided ultrasonic measurements to evaluate the soundness of CFRP composites in spar caps of wind turbine blades. Compared with the ultrasonic pulse-echo method, the ultrasonic pitch-catch method is effective in the receiving ultrasonic signals on the composites. Ultrasonic signals must be controlled at arbitrary depths of CFRP composite laminates; this is called a “sampling volume.” Therefore, ultrasonic signals can be obtained at arbitrary depths of composites in any sampling volume.

Clinical Microbiology and Biomedical Sciences : Construction and Characterization of an Enhanced GFP-Tagged TIM-1 Fusion Protein

( Ji Lin Qing ),( Hai Bing Xiao ),( Lin Zhao ),( Gui Fang Qin ),( Li Hua Hu ),( Zhi Zhong Chen ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.4

TIM-1 (also known as KIM-1 and HAVcr-1) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein member of the TIM family that may play important roles in innate and adaptive immune responses. The overexpression of proteins associated with membrane proteins is a major obstacle to overcome in studies of membrane protein structures and functions. In this study, we successfully coupled the overexpression of the TIM-1 protein with a C-terminal enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) tag in Escherichia coli. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first to describe the overexpression of human TIM-1 in E. coli. The purified TIM-1-EGFP fusion protein recognized and bound directly to apoptotic cells and did not to bind to viable cells. Furthermore, we confirmed that the interactions of TIM-1-EGFP with apoptotic cells were blocked by TIM-1-Fc fusion proteins. This fusion protein represents a readily obtainable source of biologically active TIM-1 that may prove useful in future studies of human TIM-1.

Study on thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of FGM tubes resting on elastic foundations

She, Gui-Lin,Ren, Yi-Ru,Xiao, Wan-Shen,Liu, Haibo Techno-Press 2018 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.66 No.6

This paper studies thermal buckling and post-buckling behaviors of functionally graded materials (FGM) tubes subjected to a uniform temperature rise and resting on elastic foundations via a refined beam model. Compared to the Timoshenko beam theory, the number of unknowns of this model are the same and no correction factors are required. The material properties of the FGM tube vary continuously in the radial direction according to a power function. Two ends of the tube are assumed to be simply supported and in-plane boundary conditions are immovable. Energy variation principle is employed to establish the governing equations. A two-step perturbation method is adopted to determine the critical thermal buckling loads and post-buckling paths of the tubes with arbitrary radial non-homogeneity. Through detailed parametric studies, it can be found that the tube has much higher buckling temperature and post-buckling strength when it is supported by an elastic foundation.

Research on a Mobile-aware Service Model in the Internet of Things

( An Jian ),( Gui Xiao-lin ),( Yang Jian-wei ),( Zhang Wen-dong ),( Jiang Jin-hua ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2013 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.7 No.5

Collaborative awareness between persons with various smart multimedia devices is a new trend in the Internet of Things (IoT). Because of the mobility, randomness, and complexity of persons, it is difficult to achieve complete data awareness and data transmission in IoT. Therefore, research must be conducted on mobile-aware service models. In this work, we first discuss and quantify the social relationships of mobile nodes from multiple perspectives based on a summary of social characteristics. We then define various decision factors (DFs). Next, we construct a directed and weighted community by analyzing the activity patterns of mobile nodes. Finally, a mobile-aware service routing algorithm (MSRA) is proposed to determine appropriate service nodes through a trusted chain and optimal path tree. The simulation results indicate that the model has superior dynamic adaptability and service discovery efficiency compared to the existing models. The mobile-aware service model could be used to improve date acquisition techniques and the quality of mobile-aware service in the IoT.

Characterization on the Beam Profile for Defect Detection of Unidirectional CFRP Composites Using NDE Techniques

Hua Liang,Xiao-Long Shi,Peng Zhang,Gui-Lin Zhang,조영태,염윤택,우용득,임광희 한국생산제조학회 2023 한국생산제조학회지 Vol.32 No.6

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology has garnered interest as an inspection tool in various industries. In this study, ultrasonic technology was applied to the defect monitoring of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials. By using ultrasonic technology, major ultrasonic reflection signals were observed in sequential order for defect evaluation in unidirectional composites. As ultrasonic waves propagate through the unidirectional CFRP composite, mode conversion, attenuation, and scattering results in a relative decrease in the peak-to-peak amplitude of the reflected ultrasonic signals, indicating the presence of defects. In the pitch-catch mode, three to four ultrasonic reflection signals were observed, and by implementing the beam profile of the reflected signals, we confirmed that the signal-to-noise ratio can be utilized as a key parameter for NDE by providing an effective scanning range of ultrasonic amplitudes.

Upregulation of MicroRNA 181c Expression in Gastric Cancer Tissues and Plasma

Cui, Mei-Hua,Hou, Xiao-Lin,Lei, Xiao-Yan,Mu, Fang-Hong,Yang, Gui-Bin,Yue, Lin,Fu, Yi,Yi, Guo-Xing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.5

Objective: To test the microRNA-181c (miR-181c) expression in tissues and plasma of gastric cancer (GC) cases, analyze any correlations, and explore the possibility of miR-181c as a potential molecular marker for GC diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Relative miR-181c expression levels in cancers and plasma from 30 GC patients was tested using reverse transcription-real-time fluorescent quantitation PCR and compared to that in samples from 30 gastric ulcer and 30 chronic gastritis patients. Results: The miR-181c expression level in the GC tissues was significantly higher than that in the gastric ulcer and chronic gastritis tissues (P = 0.000), as was the miR-181c expression level in the GC plasma (P = 0.000). We determined that miR-181c expression in GC plasma was positively correlated to its expression in the GC tissues (P = 0.000). Conclusions: The expression of miR-181c is upregulated in GC tissues and plasma, and the miR-181c expression level in GC plasma is positively correlated to that in the corresponding cancer tissues. Plasma miR-181c is possibly a new serological marker for GC diagnosis.

Recent advances in the food application of electrospun nanofibers

Wei-Hua Han,Xiao Li,Gui-Feng Yu,Bin-Chang Wang,Lin-Peng Huang,Jingkai Wang,Yun-Ze Long 한국공업화학회 2022 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.110 No.-

Electrospinning (e-spinning) has excellent advantages in producing functional and versatile nanofibersand electrospun (e-spun) nanofibers have a variety of potential applications, including in food industry. This paper reviews the recent progress of e-spinning and food-related e-spun nanofibers, covering ediblenanofibers (natural materials and food ingredients), active food packaging (antibacterial packaging,antioxidant packaging, high temperature and humidity resistant packaging), food filtration membranes,and food sensors. Additionally, we discussed the new trend of combining nanomaterials with food andthe challenges of applying e-spinning in food science. The results indicated that e-spinning is a promisingand efficient alternative for the production of daily and functional food.