Radiotherapy combined with immunotherapy could improve the immune infiltration of melanoma in mice and enhance the abscopal effect

Yufeng Zheng(Yufeng Zheng),Xue Liu(Xue Liu),Na Li(Na Li),Aimei Zhao(Aimei Zhao),Zhiqiang Sun(Zhiqiang Sun),Meihua Wang(Meihua Wang),Judong Luo(Judong Luo) 대한방사선종양학회 2023 Radiation Oncology Journal Vol.41 No.2

Purpose: To analyze the gene mutation, immune infiltration and tumor growth of primary tumor and distant tumor under different treatment modes. Materials and Methods: Twenty B16 murine melanoma cells were injected subcutaneously into the of both sides of the thigh, simulating a primary tumor and a secondary tumor impacted by the abscopal effect, respectively. They were divided into blank control group, immunotherapy group, radiotherapy group, and radiotherapy combined immunotherapy group. During this period, tumor volume was measured, and RNA sequencing was performed on tumor samples after the test. R software was used to analyze differentially expressed genes, functional enrichment, and immune infiltration. Results: We found that any treatment mode could cause changes in differentially expressed genes, especially the combination treatment. The different therapeutic effects might be caused by gene expression. In addition, the proportions of infiltrating immune cells in the irradiated and abscopal tumors were different. In the combination treatment group, T-cell infiltration in the irradiated site was the most obvious. In the immunotherapy group, CD8+ T-cell infiltration in the abscopal tumor site was obvious, but immunotherapy alone might have a poor prognosis. Whether the irradiated or abscopal tumor was evaluated, radiotherapy combined with anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1) therapy produced the most obvious tumor control and might have a positive impact on prognosis. Conclusion: Combination therapy not only improves the immune microenvironment but may also have a positive impact on prognosis.

Plasma Targeted Metabolomics Analysis for Amino Acids and Acylcarnitines in Patients with Prediabetes, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Diabetic Vascular Complications

Xin Li,Yancheng Li,Yuanhao Liang,Ruixue Hu,Wenli Xu,Yufeng Liu 대한당뇨병학회 2021 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.45 No.2

Background: We hypothesized that specific amino acids or acylcarnitines would have benefits for the differential diagnosis of diabetes. Thus, a targeted metabolomics for amino acids and acylcarnitines in patients with diabetes and its complications was carried out. Methods: A cohort of 54 normal individuals and 156 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or diabetic complications enrolled from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University was studied. The subjects were divided into five main groups: normal individuals, impaired fasting glucose, overt diabetes, diabetic microvascular complications, and diabetic peripheral vascular disease. The technique of tandem mass spectrometry was applied to obtain the plasma metabolite profiles. Metabolomics multivariate statistics were applied for the metabolic data analysis and the differential metabolites determination. Results: A total of 10 cross-comparisons within diabetes and its complications were designed to explore the differential metabolites. The results demonstrated that eight comparisons existed and yielded significant metabolic differences. A total number of 24 differential metabolites were determined from six selected comparisons, including up-regulated amino acids, down-regulated medium-chain and long-chain acylcarnitines. Altered differential metabolites provided six panels of biomarkers, which were helpful in distinguishing diabetic patients. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that the biomarker panels consisted of specific amino acids and acylcarnitines which could reflect the metabolic variations among the different stages of diabetes and might be useful for the differential diagnosis of prediabetes, overt diabetes and diabetic complications.

BIOLOGICAL EFFECT OF INTRANASALLY INSTILLED TITANIUM DIOXIDE NANOPARTICLES ON FEMALE MICE

JIANGXUE WANG,YUFENG LI,WEI LI,BAI LI,YULIANG ZHAO,CHUNYING CHEN 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2008 NANO Vol.3 No.4

The toxicological effect of TiO2 nanoparticles with different crystal structure (80 nm for rutile and 155 nm for anatase) on female mice was investigated through intranasal instillation. After exposure for 30 days at the dose of 50 mg/kg body weight, no abnormal activity and mortality were observed with the normally increasing body weight of mice. The coefficients of tissues to body weight also show no obvious difference from the control except the increased coefficient of kidneys in mice exposed to 80 nm TiO2 nanoparticles. Titanium contents and histopathology examination indicate the no pathological response in the lung was induced by the increased TiO2 deposition, and the liver, heart, and spleen were not influenced. The severe pathology changes in kidneys suggest that TiO2 nanoparticles may be excreted out by kidneys via system circulation. However, the serum biochemical parameters were not changed compared with the control, whichmeans no obvious functional impairment induced by the nasal exposure for 30 days. In addition, the higher titanium contents in the brain tissues imply that the translocation and deposition of nanoparticles through intranasal instilling pathway is different from the other routes such as intratracheal inhalation or intratracheal instillation. The influence of deposited nanoparticles on central nervous system needs further investigation and is underway.

Simulation Analysis of Indoor Air Flow in a Badminton Gymnasium

Yanli Ren,Deying Li,Yufeng Zhang 국제온돌학회 2007 International Journal of Ondol Vol.2 No.1

To design an efficient and acceptable indoor air environment in a badminton gymnasium, it is important to study the velocity and temperature field in the conditioned room. For diverse airflow patterns, the k- c models with wall function near solid boundaries are adopted to simulate airflow distribution in the gymnasium. The simulated result is analyzed in this paper, and it provides the important reference for the design of air condition system and optimization of the project. CFD is effective design tool for air flow in large space, for it can give the velocity and temperature values at any point quantitatively.

Placement of Parameter Server in Wide Area Network Topology for Geo-Distributed Machine Learning

li, yongyao,Fan, Chenyu,Zhang, Xiaoning,Chen, Yufeng 한국통신학회 2023 Journal of communications and networks Vol.25 No.3

Machine learning (ML) is extensively used in a widerange of real-world applications that require data all aroundworld to pursue high accuracy of a global model. Unfortunately,it is impossible to transmit all gathered raw data to a centraldata center for training due to data privacy, data sovereigntyand high communication cost. This brings the idea of geo-distributed machine learning (Geo-DML), which completes thetraining of the global ML model across multiple data centerswith the bottleneck of high communication cost over the limitedwide area networks (WAN) bandwidth. In this paper, we studyon the problem of parameter server (PS) placement in PSarchitecture for communication efficiency of Geo-DML. Ouroptimization aims to select an appropriate data center as thePS for global training algorithm based on the communicationcost. We prove the PS placement problem is NP-hard. Further,we develop an approximation algorithm to solve the problemusing the randomized rounding method. In order to validate theperformance of our proposed algorithm, we conduct large-scalesimulations, and the simulation results on two typical carriernetwork topologies show that our proposed algorithm can reducethe communication cost up to 61.78% over B4 topology and21.78% over Internet2 network topology.

VEGF Promoter Polymorphism Confers an Increased Risk of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in a Chinese Population

Yufeng Zhuo,Qingchun Zeng,Peng Zhang,Guoyang Li,Qiang Xie,Ying Cheng 연세대학교의과대학 2017 Yonsei medical journal Vol.58 No.2

Purpose: Evidence on the contribution of genes to the hereditary predisposition to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is limited. Materials and Methods: In this study, we hypothesized that single nucleotide variants in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene may alter gene function and expression and may be associated with PAH risk. Five putatively functional loci (rs699947C>A and rs833061T>C in the promoter, rs3025040C>T, rs10434G>A and rs3025053G>A in the 3’-UTR) in the VEGF gene were genotyped and analyzed in a retrospective study of 587 patients with PAH and 736 healthy subjects from southern China. Results: We found that the rs833061T>C polymorphism was significantly associated with PAH risk, while the other single nucleotidepolymorphisms were not. Compared to carriers with TT genotype, those with rs833061C variant genotype (CT/CC) had an increased risk of PAH (odds ratio=1.47, 95% confidence interval=1.18–1.83, p=0.001). Functional assays indicated that CT/CC variant genotype had significantly higher mRNA levels of VEGF in peripheral blood mononuclear cells than TT genotype (p=0.021). Luciferase reporter assay indicated that having a C allele conferred a significantly higher transcription activity than that with a T allele. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the functional polymorphism rs833061T>C in VEGF gene promoter modulates VEGF expressionand may be a valuable biomarker for predicting PAH susceptibility.

Optimization of coagulation–flocculation process for papermaking-reconstituted tobacco slice wastewater treatment using response surface methodology

Yufeng Wang,Lihuan Mo,Kefu Chen,Jun Li,Jun Xu 한국공업화학회 2014 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.20 No.2

A coagulation–flocculation process was used to treat papermaking-reconstituted tobacco slicewastewater with polyaluminium chloride (PAC) as coagulant and a cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM)as flocculant. To maximize the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color, the jar tests werecarried out in the experiments and response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize theprocess. A central composite design, i.e., a standard approach in RSM, was used to evaluate the effectsand interactions of three factors, i.e. PAC dosage, CPAM dosage and pH on the treatment efficiency. Results revealed that the maximum reduction of COD and color could be achieved at an optimalconditions, i.e., PAC = 715 mg/L, CPAM = 4.8 mg/L and pH = 6.6, from which the reduction of COD andcolor were 67.8% and 77.7%, respectively. The study also showed that the regression equations could beused as the theoretical basis for coagulation–flocculation process of papermaking-reconstituted tobaccoslice wastewater. They will be very helpful to flexibly select the appropriate process parameters in theengineering applications

Examining the qualification of copper magnetic nanocatalyst design and its application in piezoelectric sensor

Yufeng Pang,Xiaojuan Li 국제구조공학회 2023 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.85 No.6

Piezoelectricity is defined as the ability of certain materials to produce electric signals when mechanically stressed or to deform when an electrical potential is applied. Piezo technology is becoming increasingly crucial as intelligent devices use vibration sensors to detect vibrations in consumer electronics, the automotive industry, architectural design, and other applications. A wide range of applications is now possible with piezoelectric sensors, such as skin-attachable devices that monitor health and detect diseases. In this article, copper nanoparticles are used in the piezoelectric sensor as the driving agent of the magnetic field. Magnetic nanocatalysts containing copper nanoparticles are used due to their cheapness and availability. Considering that the increase of the electric field acting on the piezoelectric increases the damping (As a result, damping materials reduce radiation noise and increase material transfer losses by altering the natural vibration frequency of the vibrating surface). Among the advantages of this method are depreciating a significant amount of input energy using high energy absorption capacity and controlling slight vibrations in the sensors.

A novel multistage approach for structural model updating based on sensitivity ranking

Yufeng Jiang,Yingchao Li,Shuqing Wang,Mingqiang Xu 국제구조공학회 2020 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.25 No.6

A novel multistage approach is developed for structural model updating based on sensitivity ranking of the selected updating parameters. Modal energy-based sensitivities are formulated, and maximum-normalized indices are designed for sensitivity ranking. Based on the ranking strategy, a multistage approach is proposed, where these parameters to be corrected with similar sensitivity levels are updated simultaneously at the same stage, and the complete procedure continues sequentially at several stages, from large to small, according to the predefined levels of the updating parameters. At every single stage, a previously developed cross model cross mode (CMCM) method is used for structural model updating. The effectiveness and robustness of the multistage approach are investigated by implementing it on an offshore structure, and the performances are compared with nonmultistage approach using numerical and experimental vibration information. These results demonstrate that the multistage approach is more effective for structural model updating of offshore platform structures even with limited information and measured noise. These findings serve as a preliminary strategy for structural model updating of an offshore platform in service.

Two new triterpenoid saponins derived from the leaves of Panax ginseng and their antiinflammatory activity

Li, Fu,Cao, Yufeng,Luo, Yanyan,Liu, Tingwu,Yan, Guilong,Chen, Liang,Ji, Lilian,Wang, Lun,Chen, Bin,Yaseen, Aftab,Khan, Ashfaq A.,Zhang, Guolin,Jiang, Yunyao,Liu, Jianxun,Wang, Gongcheng,Wang, Ming-Kui The Korean Society of Ginseng 2019 Journal of Ginseng Research Vol.43 No.4

Background: The leaves and roots of Panax ginseng are rich in ginsenosides. However, the chemical compositions of the leaves and roots of P. ginseng differ, resulting in different medicinal functions. In recent years, the aerial parts of members of the Panax genus have received great attention from natural product chemists as producers of bioactive ginsenosides. The aim of this study was the isolation and structural elucidation of novel, minor ginsenosides in the leaves of P. ginseng and evaluation of their antiinflammatory activity in vitro. Methods: Various chromatographic techniques were applied to obtain pure individual compounds, and their structures were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and high-resolution mass spectrometry, as well as chemical methods. The antiinflammatory effect of the new compounds was evaluated on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Results and conclusions: Two novel, minor triterpenoid saponins, ginsenoside $LS_1$ (1) and 5,6-didehydroginsenoside $Rg_3$ (2), were isolated from the leaves of P. ginseng. The isolated compounds 1 and 2 were assayed for their inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, and Compound 2 showed a significant inhibitory effect with $IC_{50}$ of $37.38{\mu}M$ compared with that of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine ($IC_{50}=90.76{\mu}M$). Moreover, Compound 2 significantly decreased secretion of cytokines such as prostaglandin $E_2$ and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$. In addition, Compound 2 significantly suppressed protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. These results suggested that Compound 2 could be used as a valuable candidate for medicinal use or functional food, and the mechanism is warranted for further exploration.