Combined fine-needle aspiration with core needle biopsy for assessing thyroid nodules: a more valuable diagnostic method?

Zhe Chen,Jia-jia Wang,Dong-ming Guo,Yu-xia Zhai,Zhuo-zhi Dai,Hong-hui Su 대한초음파의학회 2023 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.42 No.2

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of combined fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with core needle biopsy (CNB) in thyroid nodules. Methods: FNA and CNB were performed simultaneously on 703 nodules. We compared the proportions of inconclusive results and the diagnostic performance for malignancy among FNA, CNB, and combined FNA/CNB for different nodule sizes. Results: Combined FNA/CNB showed lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB for all nodules (2.8% vs. 5.7%, P<0.001), nodules ≤1.0 cm (4.9% vs. 7.3%, P=0.063), nodules >1.0 cm (2.0% vs. 5.0 %, P<0.001), nodules ≤1.5 cm (3.8% vs. 7.9 %, P<0.001), and nodules >1.5 cm (2.1% vs. 3.9 %, P=0.016). The sensitivity of combined FNA/CNB in predicting malignancy was significantly higher than that of CNB (89.0% vs. 80.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (89.0% vs. 58.1%, P<0.001) for all nodules. Within American College of Radiology Thyroid and Imaging Reporting and Data System grades 4-5, in the subgroup of nodules ≤1.5 cm, combined FNA/ CNB showed the best sensitivity in predicting malignancy (91.4%), significantly higher than that of CNB (81.0%, P<0.001) and FNA (57.8%, P<0.001). However, in the subgroup of nodules >1.5 cm, the difference between combined FNA/CNB and CNB was not significant (84.2% vs. 78.9%, P=0.500). Conclusion: Regardless of nodule size, combined FNA/CNB tended to yield lower proportions of inconclusive results than CNB or FNA alone and exhibited higher performance in diagnosing malignancy. The combined FNA/CNB technique may be a more valuable diagnostic method for nodules ≤1.5 cm and nodules with a risk of malignancy than CNB and FNA alone.

A novel strengthened dispersed particle gel for enhanced oil recovery application

Caili Dai,Wenxia Chen,Qing You,Hong Wang,Yang Zhe,Long He,Baolei Jiao,Yining Wu 한국공업화학회 2016 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.41 No.-

A novel strengthened dispersed particle gel (SDPG) was proposed and investigated to improve hightemperatureand high-salinity stability of foam, which uses silica nanoparticles as reinforcing material tosupport the inner framework of particle gel. In this paper, SDPG was successfully prepared and applied toa new three-phase foam system (STPFS). Indoor experiments were conducted to evaluate the salttolerance, thermal tolerance, plugging capacity and enhanced oil recovery capacity of the STPFS. It provedthat silica nanoparticles could improve the high-temperature and high-salinity stability of the gelparticles effectively. Consequently, the new three-phase foam system (STPFS) exhibited superior salt andtemperature resistance, with a salinity of 80,000 mg/L of Na+, 15,000 mg/L of Ca2+ and Mg2+ andtemperature tolerance of 110 C. In addition, core-flooding test indicated the STPFS possessed betterplugging capacity with a resistance factor of 310 and better enhanced oil recovery capacity with the oilrecovery increment of 26.79% under high temperature (110 C) and high salt environment (212,633.8 mg/L).

MTHFR C667T Polymorphism Association with Lung Cancer Risk in Henan Province: A Case-control Study

Cheng, Zhe,Wang, Wei,Dai, Ling-Ling,Kang, Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.6

The current study was performed to assess any association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and risk of lung cancer in Henan province. This case-control study involved94 patients with newly histological confirmed lung cancer and 78 healthy controls. Genotyping was achieved with peripheral blood lymphocytes DNA and association of the polymorphism with risk of lung cancer was estimated by unconditional logistic regression analysis. The frequencies of the MTHFR 667TT genotype were 37.2% in cases compared with 23.1% in controls (${\chi}^2$ = 4.008, P = 0.045). Individuals with the 667CC/CT genotype displayed a significantly reduced risk of lung cancer compared with those with the TT genotypes [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.506; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.258 - 0.991]. The C667T polymorphism might have a significant effect on the occurrence of lung cancer in Henan province.

A Hierarchical Model Predictive Voltage Control for NPC/H-Bridge Converters with a Reduced Computational Burden

Gong, Zheng,Dai, Peng,Wu, Xiaojie,Deng, Fujin,Liu, Dong,Chen, Zhe The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2017 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.17 No.1

In recent years, voltage source multilevel converters are very popular in medium/high-voltage industrial applications, among which the NPC/H-Bridge converter is a popular solution to the medium/high-voltage drive systems. The conventional finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) strategy is not practical for multilevel converters due to their substantial calculation requirements, especially under high number of voltage levels. To solve this problem, a hierarchical model predictive voltage control (HMPVC) strategy with referring to the implementation of g-h coordinate space vector modulation (SVM) is proposed. By the hierarchical structure of different cost functions, load currents can be controlled well and common mode voltage can be maintained at low values. The proposed strategy could be easily expanded to the systems with high number of voltage levels while the amount of required calculation is significantly reduced and the advantages of the conventional FCS-MPC strategy are reserved. In addition, a HMPVC-based field oriented control scheme is applied to a drive system with the NPC/H-Bridge converter. Both steady-state and transient performances are evaluated by simulations and experiments with a down-scaled NPC/H-Bridge converter prototype under various conditions, which validate the proposed HMPVC strategy.

Prolyl endopeptidase remodels macrophage function as a novel transcriptional coregulator and inhibits fibrosis

Lin Shuang-Zhe,Wu Wei-Jie,Cheng Yu-Qing,Zhang Jian-Bin,Jiang Dai-Xi,Ren Tian-Yi,Ding Wen-Jin,Liu Mingxi,Chen Yuan-Wen,Fan Jian-Gao 생화학분자생물학회 2023 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.55 No.-

Macrophages are immune cells crucial for host defense and homeostasis maintenance, and their dysregulation is involved in multiple pathological conditions, such as liver fibrosis. The transcriptional regulation in macrophage is indispensable for fine-tuning of macrophage functions, but the details have not been fully elucidated. Prolyl endopeptidase (PREP) is a dipeptidyl peptidase with both proteolytic and non-proteolytic functions. In this study, we found that Prep knockout significantly contributed to transcriptomic alterations in quiescent and M1/M2-polarized bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), as well as aggravated fibrosis in an experimental nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) model. Mechanistically, PREP predominantly localized to the macrophage nuclei and functioned as a transcriptional coregulator. Using CUT&Tag and co-immunoprecipitation, we found that PREP was mainly distributed in active cis-regulatory genomic regions and physically interacted with the transcription factor PU.1. Among PREP-regulated downstream genes, genes encoding profibrotic cathepsin B and D were overexpressed in BMDMs and fibrotic liver tissue. Our results indicate that PREP in macrophages functions as a transcriptional coregulator that finely tunes macrophage functions, and plays a protective role against liver fibrosis pathogenesis.

A Hierarchical Model Predictive Voltage Control for NPC/H-Bridge Converters with a Reduced Computational Burden

Zheng Gong,Peng Dai,Xiaojie Wu,Fujin Deng,Dong Liu,Zhe Chen 전력전자학회 2017 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.17 No.1

In recent years, voltage source multilevel converters are very popular in medium/high-voltage industrial applications, among which the NPC/H-Bridge converter is a popular solution to the medium/high-voltage drive systems. The conventional finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) strategy is not practical for multilevel converters due to their substantial calculation requirements, especially under high number of voltage levels. To solve this problem, a hierarchical model predictive voltage control (HMPVC) strategy with referring to the implementation of g-h coordinate space vector modulation (SVM) is proposed. By the hierarchical structure of different cost functions, load currents can be controlled well and common mode voltage can be maintained at low values. The proposed strategy could be easily expanded to the systems with high number of voltage levels while the amount of required calculation is significantly reduced and the advantages of the conventional FCS-MPC strategy are reserved. In addition, a HMPVC-based field oriented control scheme is applied to a drive system with the NPC/H-Bridge converter. Both steady-state and transient performances are evaluated by simulations and experiments with a down-scaled NPC/H-Bridge converter prototype under various conditions, which validate the proposed HMPVC strategy.

A novel recyclable nano-adsorbent for enhanced oil recovery with efficient removal of Ca2+ and Cr6+ from oilfield wastewater

Lei He,Yong Dai,Zhe Wang,Lutao Yang,Luxia Zhang,Pengpeng Hu,Yutian Lei,Hong Mo,Haomiao Zhu,Jun Zhang 한국화학공학회 2022 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.39 No.8

Oilfield wastewater has a significantly negative influence on the recovery efficiency due to its hypersalinity. Therefore, magnetic graphene oxide (GO) modified with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and grafted bypolyethylene glycol (PEG) nano-adsorbent was prepared to remove the Ca2+ and Cr6+ in Jidong Oilfield wastewaterspecifically. It was noteworthy that PEG-g-EDTA/Fe3O4/GO nano-adsorbent had excellent adsorption performance,with removal ratios up to 71.6% for Ca2+ and 42.7% for Cr6+ at 30 min. After the fifth recycling run, the nano-adsorbentstill remained with high removal ratios (69.3% for Ca2+ and 30.5% for Cr6+) and high reuse rates (89.4% for Ca2+and 95.2% for Cr6+), indicating that the nano-adsorbent had outstanding adsorption-desorption efficacy and high reusability. The adsorption test results demonstrated that the total salinity of the treated oilfield wastewater decreased byabout 5,000 ppm, and the displacement efficiency further increased by 12.5% by chemical flooding compared with theuntreated wastewater. Therefore, PEG-g-EDTA/Fe3O4/GO nano-adsorbent is an adsorbent with excellent potentialwhich can effectively remove Ca2+ and Cr6+ in oilfield wastewater to enhance oil recovery (EOR).

Investigation into performance enhancements of Li–S batteries via oxygen-containing functional groups on activated multi-walled carbon nanotubes using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Yu Hai Wang,Zhe Dai,Chao Yue Zhang,Guo Wen Sun,Zhong Wei Lu,Xiu Ping Gao,Geng Zhi Sun,Wei Lan,Zhen Xing Zhang,Xiao Jun Pan,Jin Yuan Zhou 한국물리학회 2020 Current Applied Physics Vol.20 No.9

It was demonstrated that the electrochemical performance enhancements in KOH-activated carbon materials should be mainly due to the created polar oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs, such as such as C–O, C–– O, –OH, and O–C–– O), while the role of each OFGs on the electrochemical enhancements is still unclear. In this work, KOH activation treatments were systematically conducted on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to explore the role of each OFG on the performance enhancements of Li–S batteries (LSBs). Results showed that the capacity of activated-CNT-sulfur (a-CNT-S) cathodes is 33% higher than that of the pristine CNT-S cathodes, and their rate capability and cycling stability are also enhanced. And the electrochemical analysis combining with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the formed C–O bonds are the real factor for the enhanced electrochemical performances of a-CNT-S cathodes. Furthermore, the optimal activation conditions on CNTbased cathodes for LSBs were optimized to be 10 min at 700 ℃.

Establishment of a novel myocarditis mouse model based on cyclosporine A

Zhao Tian Hao,Jiang Yi Xuan,Chen Kai Qin,Qiu Dan,Xu Yan Zhe,Ye Chun,Ren Ting,Zhang Bo,Dai Bin,Hu Jue,Lu Jun,Zhou Fang Liang,Xiao Rong,Lu Fang Guo,Wei Ke 한국유전학회 2022 Genes & Genomics Vol.44 No.12

Background: Myocarditis is a myocardial injury that can easily cause adolescent death. Traditional research models of animal invasion with viral components, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or porcine myocardial myosin, among others, have the shortcomings of potential biological safety hazards and high animal mortality. Objective: To explore the construction of a novel myocarditis model with cyclosporine A and the potential genes and pathways associated with it. Methods: BALB/c mice were used in this study, and cyclosporin A and LPS were injected into the peritoneal cavity of mice. The successful establishment of the model was assessed by detecting serum myocardial injury markers and inflammatory factors levels, HE, IHC staining, and RT-qPCR methods. Key genes were obtained using the GSE35182 dataset from the GEO database and validated with the RT-qPCR method. Results: We found that a large number of inflammatory cells infiltrated the myocardium of mice in each group of Cyclosporin A constructed model, while the expression of inflammatory factor indicators was increased, and this model has the characteristics of high degree of local inflammation in myocardial tissue, low mortality, and safe and non-toxic treatment. Using GSE35182 data, we selected 18 Hub genes and validated Hub genes in myocardial tissue with RT-qPCR and found that multiple signaling pathways such as Toll-likereceptor signaling pathway(TLRs), Rap1 signal pathway(Rap1), and Chemokine signaling pathway may be involved in the development of myocarditis. Conclusion: Cyclosporin A can construct a new myocarditis model, and TLRs, Chemokines and Rap1 signaling pathways may be the core pathways of myocarditis.