The Feasibility of Using Biomarkers Derived from Circulating Tumor DNA Sequencing as Predictive Classifiers in Patients with Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Yu Feng,Yutao Liu,Mingming Yuan,Guilan Dong,Hongxia Zhang,Tongmei Zhang,Lianpeng Chang,Xuefeng Xia,Lifeng Li,Haohua Zhu,Puyuan Xing,Hongyu Wang,Yuankai Shi,Zhijie Wang,Xingsheng Hu 대한암학회 2022 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.54 No.3

Purpose To investigate the feasibility of biomarkers based on dynamic circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to classify small cell lung cancer (SCLC) into different subtypes. Materials and Methods Tumor and longitudinal plasma ctDNA samples were analyzed by next-generation sequencing of 1,021 genes. PyClone was used to infer the molecular tumor burden index (mTBI). Pre-treatment tumor tissues [T1] and serial plasma samples were collected (pre-treatment [B1], after two [B2], six [B3] cycles of chemotherapy and at progression [B4]). Results Overall concordance between T1 and B1 sequencing (n=30) was 66.5%, and 89.5% in the gene of <i>RB1</i>. A classification method was designed according to the changes of <i>RB1</i> mutation, named as subtype Ⅰ (both positive at B1 and B2), subtype Ⅱ (positive at B1 but negative at B2), and subtype Ⅲ (both negative at B1 and B2). The median progressive-free survival for subtype Ⅰ patients (4.5 months [95%CI: 2.6-5.8]) was inferior to subtype Ⅱ (not reached, p<0.0001) and subtype Ⅲ (10.8 months [95%CI: 6.0-14.4], p=0.002). The median overall survival for subtype Ⅰ patients (16.3 months [95%CI: 5.3-22.9]) was inferior to subtype Ⅱ (not reached, p=0.01) and subtype Ⅲ (not reached, p=0.02). Patients with a mTBI dropped to zero at B2 had longer median overall survival (not reached vs. 19.5 months, p=0.01). The changes of mTBI from B4 to B1 were sensitive to predict new metastases, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 85.7%. Conclusion Monitoring ctDNA based <i>RB1</i> mutation and mTBI provided a feasible tool to predict the prognosis of SCLC.

Measure for Reducing the Tensile Stress in Cement-Treated Soil Layerin Deep Excavation in Soft Clay

Li Wang,Yong Liu,Yutao Pan,William Danovan,Jeyatharan Kumarasamy,Fook-Hou Lee 대한토목학회 2019 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.23 No.9

Cement-stabilised soil layers (CSSLs) are often created to enhance lateral support to the retaining wall below the excavation level, such as those widely used in the construction of common service tunnels in Singapore. The CSSLs may be subjected to tensile stress or even cracks due to the underlying uplift pressure. Fully-coupled effective stress analyses were carried out using ABAQUS to explore the effectiveness of three measures for reducing the upheave-induced hogging of the CSSLs, i.e., increasing the thickness, usage of pressure-relief wells and usage of openings in the CSSLs. The results show that the usage of the opening is a more effective and more widely applicable measure compared to the other two measures.

Aerodynamic analysis on the step types of a railway tunnel with non-uniform cross-section

Wenhui Li,Tanghong Liu,Xiaoshuai Huo,Zijian Guo,Yutao Xia 한국풍공학회 2022 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.35 No.4

The pressure-mitigating effects of a high-speed train passing through a tunnel with a partially reduced cross-section are investigated via the numerical approach. A compressible, three-dimensional RNG k-ε turbulence model and a hybrid mesh strategy are adopted to reproduce that event, which is validated by the moving model test. Three step-like tunnel forms and two additional transitions at the tunnel junction are proposed and their aerodynamic performance is compared and scrutinized with a constant cross-sectional tunnel as the benchmark. The results show that the tunnel step is unrelated to the pressure mitigation effects since the case of a double-step tunnel has no advantage in comparison to a single-step tunnel, but the excavated volume is an essential matter. The pressure peaks are reduced at different levels along with the increase of the excavated earth volume and the peaks are either fitted with power or logarithmic function relationships. In addition, the Arc and Oblique-transitions have very limited gaps, and their pressure curves are identical to each other, whereas the Rec-transition leads to relatively lower pressure peaks in CP max, CP min, and ΔCP, with 5.2%, 4.0%, and 4.1% relieved compared with Oblique-transition. This study could provide guidance for the design of the novel railway tunnel.

Vibrational Energy Properties of Twin–Block Ballastless Track with Anti–vibration Structure on Bridge by Power Flow Analysis

Na Fu,Zhenhang Zhao,Yutao Liu,Yuxiang Li 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.26 No.2

This article aims to investigate the vibrational energy properties of the twin–block ballastless track with anti–vibration structure (TBTAS) by mobility power flow method. Power flow of the components in TBTAS and bridge are deduced and power flow transfer rate is proposed to present the vibrational energy transmission property of the TBTAS–bridge system. Power flow of rail, twin–block slab and bridge in frequency domain is calculated based on a train–track–bridge interaction model. The effect of the stiffness of the elastic pad on power flow is discussed. The results show that the power flow of the rail exhibits a broad peak in the frequency range of 100 − 400 Hz which corresponds to the broad peak of the rail mobility and exhibits another peak around 1,000 Hz which is the pinned–pinned vibration frequency of the rail. By using elastic pad, the power flow of the bridge reduces by a maximum of 43 dB in the frequency range of 1 − 1,000 Hz. The power flow transfer rate shows that the vibrational energy concentrates in the slab. The vibrational energy of slab and bridge reaches the balance when the stiffness of the elastic pad is 40 MPa/m.

Yaw effects on train aerodynamics on a double-track viaduct: A wind tunnel study

Wenhui Li,Tanghong Liu,Pedro Martinez-Vazquez,Zhengwei Chen,Xiaoshuai Huo,Zijian Guo,Yutao Xia 한국풍공학회 2021 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.33 No.3

The aerodynamic performance of a scaled high-speed train model mounted on a double-track viaduct was studied through a wind tunnel test. The pressure distribution of different loops and the centerline on the streamlined nose region, as well as the aerodynamic load coefficients of the leading car were explored under yaw effects ranging from β=-30° to β=30°. Results showed that Reynolds effects became independent when the wind speed surpassed 40 m/s, the corresponding Re of which equals 6.51 × 105 . The pressures recorded along the centerline of train nose for the upstream scenario, was more sensitive to the yaw effects as the largest pressure difference gradually broadened against yaw angles. In addition, the pressure coefficients along the centerline and symmetrical taps of the loops, approximately fit a quadratic relationship with respect to yaw angles. The presence of the tracks and viaduct decks somehow mitigated the intensity of the airflow at downstream side. The experimental test also revealed that, the upstream configuration provided higher mean side force, yawing, and rolling moments up to β=20° whereas over that angle the force and moments exhibited the opposite performance.

AlGaN/GaN Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor (MIS)-HFETs Based DC-DC Boost Converters with Integrated Gate Drivers

Miao Cui,Qinglei Bu,Yutao Cai,Ruize Sun,Wen Liu,Huiqing Wen,Sang Lam,Yung. C. Liang,Ivona Z. Mitrovic,Stephen Taylor,Paul R. Chalker,Cezhou Zhao 전력전자학회 2019 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.2019 No.5

This study proposed a 100 kHz, 5V/11V boost converter with an integrated gate driver for a power switching device using recessed E-mode MIS-HFETs. The integrated gate driver consisting of multi-stages DCFL (Direct-Coupled FET Logic) inverters and a buffer stage, has large input swing (up to 10 V) and wide noise margin with gate dielectric, which benefits applications requiring large gate swing without any additional drivers or level shifters. The impact of transistor size on rise times and fall times have been studied. Either buffer stage or larger width of DCFL inverter can reduce rise times from 2.4 μs to less than 0.5 μs at 100 kHz, so the output voltage of boost converter is increased by 10 % at a duty cycle of 0.7. However, large buffer width can result in high gate overshoot and oscillation, indicating careful design to balance switching speed and oscillation.

Purification process and reduction of heavy metals from industrial wastewater via synthesized nanoparticle for water supply in swimming/water sport

Leiming Fu,Junlong Li,Jianming Yang,Yutao Liu,Chunxia He,Yifei Chen Techno-Press 2023 Advances in nano research Vol.15 No.5

Heavy metals, widely present in the environment, have become significant pollutants due to their excessive use in industries and technology. Their non-degradable nature poses a persistent environmental problem, leading to potential acute or chronic poisoning from prolonged exposure. Recent research has focused on separating heavy metals, particularly from industrial and mining sources. Industries such as metal plating, mining operations, tanning, wood and chipboard production, industrial paint and textile manufacturing, as well as oil refining, are major contributors of heavy metals in water sources. Therefore, removing heavy metals from water is crucial, especially for safe water supply in swimming and water sports. Iron oxide nanoparticles have proven to be highly effective adsorbents for water contaminants, and efforts have been made to enhance their efficiency and absorption capabilities through surface modifications. Nanoparticles synthesized using plant extracts can effectively bind with heavy metal ions by modifying the nanoparticle surface with plant components, thereby increasing the efficiency of heavy metal removal. This study focuses on removing lead from industrial wastewater using environmentally friendly, cost-effective iron nanoparticles synthesized with Genovese basil extract. The synthesis of nanoparticles is confirmed through analysis using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction, validating their spherical shape and nanometer-scale dimensions. The method used in this study has a low detection limit of 0.031 ppm for measuring lead concentration, making it suitable for ensuring water safety in swimming and water sports.

Traffic and QoS-Aware Base Station Sleeping Scheme in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Lin Xiao,Fahui Wu,Dingcheng Yang,Yutao Zhu,Jietong Liu 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Future Generation Communi Vol.9 No.9

With the rapid development of cellular networks, wireless communication industry has brought huge energy consumption and becomes the major consumer of environmental degradation inevitably. Thus, it is undoubtedly that realizing the sustainable development of green wireless communication has become the primary goal of global information and communications technology industry. Particularly, in cellular networks, sleep mode applied to base station (BS) is an efficient way. According to the cell traffic intensity, BS switching off/on strategy can reduce power consumption of BS effectively with a pre-condition that the quality of service (QoS) of users must be ensured. In the heterogeneous cellular networks, we proposed a BS sleeping scheme based on the traffic load varying in each cell, which is able to optimize both energy efficiency and power consumption by a multi-objective optimization problem. Then a sub-optimal solution is obtained according to a heuristic algorithm. The simulation results verified that the proposed scheme can improve the network performance.

Ultrashort pulse laser processing of ZrO2 ceramics

Qibiao Yang,Yunhan You,Bojin Cheng,Lie Chen,Jian Cheng,Deyuan Lou,Yutao Wang,Dun Liu 한양대학교 청정에너지연구소 2023 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.24 No.2

It is crucial to investigate the mechanism of ultrashort pulse laser processing of ZrO2 ceramics to improve its processingaccuracy and efficiency. An ultrashort pulse laser was used to fabricate square grooves on the surface of ZrO2 ceramics. Thedepth, surface roughness, and surface topography of grooves were analyzed by the laser confocal microscope, optical profiler,and scanning electron microscope. The effects of different laser parameters on the material removal efficiency and processingquality of ZrO2 ceramics were studied. The results show that as the laser fluence increases, material removal efficiency firstincreases and then decreases, while the surface roughness first decreases and then increases. The heat accumulation effect issevere when using high repetition frequency, and the processed surface shows melt damage. As the pulse width increases from390fs to 6ps, the ablation threshold increases from 1.28 J/cm2 to 1.92 J/cm2. However, the material removal efficiency decreasesgradually. Furthermore, the material removal efficiency in burst mode significantly reduces due to the plasma shielding andredeposition of distinct granular deposits within the grooves. These findings can serve as a guide for controlling and optimizingthe process parameters of an ultrashort pulse laser processing of ZrO2 ceramics.

Norcantharidin Anti-Angiogenesis Activity Possibly through an Endothelial Cell Pathway in Human Colorectal Cancer

Yu, Tao,Hou, Fenggang,Liu, Manman,Zhou, Lihong,Li, Dan,Liu, Jianrong,Fan, Zhongze,Li, Qi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.2

The present study was based on the unexpected discovery that norcantharidin exerted anti-angiogenesis activity when effects on growth of human colon cancer were studied. The aim was to further verify this finding and explore possible mechanisms using a tumor xenograft model in nude mice. We confirmed that norcantharidin (5 or 15 mg/kg) could inhibit angiogenesis of human colon cancer in vivo. In vitro, crossing river assay, cell adhesion assay and tube formation assay indicated that NCTD could reduce the migration, adhesion and vascular network tube formation ability of HUVECs. At the same time, the expression levels of VEGF and VEGFR-2 proteins which play important roles in angiogenesis were reduced as examined by western blotting analysis. Taken together, the results firstly showed NCTD could inhibit angiogenesis of human colon cancer in vivo, probably associated with effects on migration, adhesion and vascular network tube formation of HUVECs and expression levels of VEGF and VEGFR-2 proteins.