Association of Quantitative Flow Ratio with Lesion Severity and Its Ability to Discriminate Myocardial Ischemia

Neng Dai,Doyeon Hwang,Joo Myung Lee,Jinlong Zhang,Yaliang Tong,Ki-Hyun Jeon,Jin Chul Paeng,Gi Jeong Cheon,Bon-Kwon Koo,Junbo Ge 대한심장학회 2021 Korean Circulation Journal Vol.51 No.2

Background and Objectives: Quantitative flow ratio (QFR) is an angiography-based technique for functional assessment of coronary artery stenosis. This study investigated the response of QFR to different degree of stenosis severity and its ability to predict the positron emission tomography (PET)-defined myocardial ischemia. Methods: From 109 patients with 185 vessels who underwent both 13N-ammonia PET and invasive physiological measurement, we compared QFR, fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) for the responses to the different degree of anatomical (percent diameter stenosis [%DS]) and hemodynamic (relative flow reserve [RFR], coronary flow reserve, hyperemic stenosis resistance, and stress myocardial flow) stenosis severity and diagnostic performance against PET-derived parameters. Results: QFR, FFR, and iFR showed similar responses to both anatomic and hemodynamic stenosis severity. Regarding RFR, the diagnostic accuracy of QFR was lower than FFR (76.2% vs. 83.2%, p=0.021) and iFR (76.2% vs. 84.3%, p=0.031). For coronary flow capacity (CFC), QFR showed a lower accuracy than iFR (74.1% vs. 82%, p=0.031) and lower discriminant function than FFR (area under curve: 0.74 vs. 0.79, p=0.044). Discordance between QFR and FFR or iFR was shown in 14.6% of cases and was driven by the difference in %DS and heterogeneous distribution of PET-derived RFR and stress myocardial blood flow. Conclusions: QFR demonstrated a similar response to different anatomic and hemodynamic stenosis severity as FFR or iFR. However, its diagnostic performance was inferior to FFR and iFR when PET-derived RFR and CFC were used as a reference.

Structural Encounters, Meaning Making, and Self-construction: The Reproduction of Chinese Petitioners from a “Normalization” Perspective

RUICHEN ZHANG,NENG LIU 서울대학교 사회발전연구소 2020 Journal of Asian Sociology Vol.49 No.1

Existing literature on China’s system of petitioning (xinfang) usually takes a perspective of institutional change or social problematization, understanding it as either a malfunctioning institution or an indicator of governance crises. This article utilizes a normalization perspective instead, seeing xinfang as an understandable, even rational practice of specific individuals. Based on participant observations in Dongzhuang, Beijing, and in-depth interviews with petitioners in the neighborhood, this article aims to reveal the social mechanisms involved in the so-called normalized xinfang, suggesting that structure and agency are weaved together in this process of reproducing motives and perceived realities, which then leads to the continuation of xinfang practice. The article contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how individual petitioners persevere through multiple crises in their encounters with structural socio-political realities via meaning making and self-construction. Our study helps uncover the somehow neglected micro foundation of the macro level dilemma of enduring xinfang in China.

Aberrant Expression of the Autocrine Motility Factor Receptor Correlates with Poor Prognosis and Promotes Metastasis in Gastric Carcinoma

Huang, Zhen,Zhang, Neng,Zha, Lang,Mao, Hong-Chao,Chen, Xuan,Xiang, Ji-Feng,Zhang, Hua,Wang, Zi-Wei Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.2

AMFR, autocrine motility factor receptor, also called gp78, is a cell surface cytokine receptor which has a dual role as an E3 ubiquitin ligase in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. AMFR expression is associated with tumor malignancy. We here investigated the clinical significance of AMFR and its role in metastasis and prognosis in gastric cancer. Expression of AMFR, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in cancer tissues and matched adjacent normal tissues from 122 gastric cancer (GC) patients undergoing surgical resection was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Levels of these molecules in 17 cases selected randomly were also analysed by Western blotting. AMFR expression was significantly increased in gastric cancer tissues, and associated with invasion depth and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed AMFR expression correlated with poor overall survival and an increased risk of recurrence in the GC cases. Cox regression analysis suggested AMFR to be an independent predictor for overall and recurrence-free survival. E-cadherin expression was decreased in gastric cancer tissues; conversely, N-cadherin was increased. Expression of AMFR negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression, whereas N-cadherin expression showed a significant positive correlation with AMFR expression. AMFR might be involved in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, with aberrant expression correlating with a poor prognosis and promoting invasion and metastasis in GCs.

Tailoring fabric geometry of plain-woven composites for simultaneously enhancing stiffness and thermal properties

Xiao-Yi Zhou,Neng-Wei Wang,Wen Xiong,Xin Ruan,Shao-Jin Zhang 국제구조공학회 2022 Steel and Composite Structures, An International J Vol.42 No.4

This paper proposes a numerical optimization method to design the mesoscale architecture of textile composite for simultaneously enhancing mechanical and thermal properties, which compete with each other making it difficult to design intuitively. The base cell of the periodic warp and fill yarn system is served as the design space, and optimal fibre yarn geometries are found by solving the optimization problem through the proposed method. With the help of homogenization method, analytical formulae for the effective material properties as functions of the geometry parameters of plain-woven textile composites were derived, and they are used to form the inverse homogenization method to establish the design problem. These modules are then put together to form a multiobjective optimization problem, which is formulated in such a way that the optimal design depends on the weight factors predetermined by the user based on the stiffness and thermal terms in the objective function. Numerical examples illustrate that the developed method can achieve reasonable designs in terms of fibre yarn paths and geometries.

Introducing the Next Generation in Insulation

Wen Jei Yang,Nengli Zhang 대한기계학회 1993 International Symposium on Transport Phenomena in Vol.2 No.1

The Dynamics of Major Species During the First four Year's Restoration from Grazing in Inner Mongolian Grassland

Ying Zhi Gao,Shi Ping Wang,You Neng Yang,De Li Wang,Jie Zhang 한국초지조사료학회 2009 한국초지조사료학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2009 No.08

Grazing restoration succession of the degraded grassland is an important aspect in community ecology. Field experiment was carried out to examine how major species restore in first four years restoration following 11 consecutive grazing under different stocking rates in Inner Mongolian steppe. A. frigida and P. acaulis are the most important two species in the all treatments (NG, LG, MG and HG) after four years restoration, although they had high fluctuation. The biomasses of these two species account for 40-90% of total biomass. Especially in no grazing area, which was exclosured since 1990, A. frigida and P. acaulis are still the most important two species in the community. These results suggested A. frigida and P. acaulis conununity are quite stable, and will keep long-time if no special measurements were taken during the restoration of the degraded grassland.

A facile method for efficient synergistic oxidation of Fe2+ in phosphorus-sulfur mixed acid system with a mixture of oxygen and ozone

Dong-yan Liu,Wen-bo Lou,Shi-neng Sun,Yang Zhang,Ying Zhang,Shi-li Zheng 한국화학공학회 2022 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.39 No.12

The recovery of iron phosphate involves the addition of oxidizer to oxidize Fe2+ in the spent LiFePO4 (LFP)material to Fe3+ and the agent commonly used is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Nevertheless, H2O2 has disadvantages ofhigh price, easy decomposition and low utilization efficiency. In this manuscript, a facile method is proposed for efficientsynergistic oxidation of Fe2+ in spent LFP leachate with a mixture of oxygen and ozone. Specifically, we found bythermodynamic computations that the dominant oxidation groups of ozone during oxidation varied with acidity. Theoxidation would produce a large number of iron-phosphate complex groups (Fe3H6(PO4)43+, FeH8(PO4)4 and Fe2HPO44+)in the phosphorus-sulfur mixed acid system, leading to a paradoxical pH drop. The optimized conditions for H2O2 oxidationwere explored. It was determined experimentally that oxidation by gas mixture and O2 belonged to the firstorderand second-order reactions with activation energies of 28.68 kJ/mol and 34.61 kJ/mol, respectively, which wereboth controlled by a mixture of chemical reaction and diffusion. The optimized oxidation method was finally determinedby evaluating the cost and oxidation rate of the oxidizers. The results in this study offer a promising method fornew low-cost and efficient Fe2+ oxidation for industrial production.

Concurrent Weekly Docetaxel Chemotherapy in Combination with Radiotherapy for Stage III and IVA-B Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Wei, Wei-Hong,Cai, Xiu-Yu,Xu, Tao,Zhang, Guo-Yi,Wu, Yong-Feng,Feng, Wei-Neng,Lin, Li,Deng, Yan-Ming,Lu, Qiu-Xia,Huang, Zhe-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.3

Background and Purpose: Cisplatin is the most common chemotherapeutic agent for loco-regionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); however, toxicity is a limiting factor for some patients. We retrospectively compared the efficacy and toxicity of weekly docetaxel-based and cisplatin-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy in loco-regionally advanced NPC. Methods and Materials: Eighty-four patients with Stage III and IVA-B NPCs, treated between 2007 and 2008, were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty received weekly docetaxel-based concurrent chemotherapy, and 43 were given weekly cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy. Radiotherapy was administered using a conventional technique (seven weeks, 2.0 Gy per fraction, total dose 70-74 Gy) with 6-8 Gy boosts for some patients with locally advanced disease. Results: Median follow-up time was 42.3 months (range, 8.6-50.8 months). There were no significant differences in the 3-year loco-regional failure-free survival (85.6% vs. 92.3%; p=0.264), distant failure-free survival (87.0% vs. 92.5%; p=0.171), progression-free survival (85.7% vs. 88.4%; p=0.411) or overall survival (86.5% vs. 92.5%, p=0.298) of patients treated concurrently with docetaxel or cisplatin. Severe toxicity was not common in either group. Conclusions: Weekly docetaxel-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy is potentially effective and has a tolerable toxicity; however, further investigations are required to determine if docetaxel is superior to cisplatin for advanced stage NPC.

The joint effect of different concentration of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> and ionic liquid on the growth of wheat seedlings

Zhonglin Chen,Qian Zhou,Feng Leng,Bing Dai,Xueyang Zhao,Weichen Zhang,Neng Liu,Wei Guan,Kui Liu 대한환경공학회 2017 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.22 No.3

The joint effect of different concentrations (0.05-0.375 mmol/L) of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> and various concentrations (50-400 mg/L) of [C3mim][OAc] on the growth and physiology of wheat seedlings were investigated. The toxicity of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> could be significantly reduced by lower concentrations (50-200 mg/L) of [C3mim][OAc]. With higher concentration (≥ 300 mg/L) of [C3mim][OAc], the reduction became less, and compared to Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> stress only, the toxicity of 400 mg/L [C3mim][OAc] increased. As for different Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> concentrations, the optimal reduction depends on the balance between the exact concentration of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> and [C3mim][OAc]: With low Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> concentration (0.05-0.250 mmol/L) requiring 50 mg/L [C3mim][OAc], it could reach a dynamic equilibrium, while high Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> concentration (0.375 mmol/L) requiring 100 mg/L [C3mim][OAc]. The growth and physiological indexes of wheat seedlings show a decrease in toxicity compared to the Cd alone treatment, when the dynamic equilibrium is reached. The concentration of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> in leaf tissues showed that low concentration (50-200 mg/L) of [C3mim][OAc] can reduce the toxicity of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> (0.05-0.375 mmol/L) by decreasing the level of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP> concentration in the tissues, whereas the higher concentration (≥ 300 mg/L) of [C3mim][OAc] can increase the concentration of Cd<SUP>2+</SUP>.