Value of Exhaled Nitric Oxide and FEF25–75 in Identifying Factors Associated With Chronic Cough in Allergic Rhinitis

Xiaofang Liu,Xiangdong Wang,Xiujuan Yao,Yuhong Wang,Yongchang Sun,Luo Zhang 대한천식알레르기학회 2019 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.11 No.6

Purpose: Chronic cough in allergic rhinitis (AR) patients is common with multiple etiologies including cough variant asthma (CVA), non-asthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis (NAEB), gastroesophageal reflux-related cough (GERC), and upper airway cough syndrome (UACS). Practical indicators that distinguish these categories are lacking. We aimed to explore the diagnostic value of the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and forced expiratory flow at 25% and 75% of pulmonary volume (FEF25–75) in specifically identifying CVA and NAEB in these patients. Methods: Consecutive AR patients with chronic cough were screened and underwent induced sputum, FeNO, nasal nitric oxide, spirometry, and methacholine bronchial provocation testing. All patients also completed gastroesophageal reflux disease questionnaires. Results: Among 1,680 AR patients, 324 (19.3%) were identified with chronic cough, of whom 316 (97.5%) underwent etiology analyses. Overall, 87 (27.5%) patients had chronic cough caused by NAEB, 78 (24.7%) by CVA, 16 (5.1%) by GERC, and 81 (25.6%) by UACS. Patients with either NAEB or CVA (n = 165, in total) were further assigned to a common group designated as CVA/NAEB, because they both responded to corticosteroid therapy. Receiver operating characteristic curves of FeNO revealed obvious differences among CVA, NAEB, and CVA/NAEB (area under the curve = 0.855, 0.699, and 0.923, respectively). The cutoff values of FeNO at 43.5 and 32.5 ppb were shown to best differentiate CVA and CVA/NAEB, respectively. FEF25–75 was significantly lower in patients with CVA than in those with other causes. A FEF25–75 value of 74.6% showed good sensitivity and specificity for identifying patients with CVA. Conclusions: NAEB, CVA, and UACS are common causes of chronic cough in patients with AR. FeNO can first be used to discriminate patients with CVA/NAEB, then FEF25–75 (or combined with FeNO) can further discriminate patients with CVA from those with CVA/NAEB.

Ultrasonication as a Rapid and High Yield DNA Extraction Method for Bacterial Gene Quantification by NanoGene Assay

Xiaofang Wang,조경숙,손아정 한국생물공학회 2015 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.20 No.6

We demonstrated ultrasonication as a rapid and high yield DNA extraction method suitable for bacterial gene quantification by NanoGene assay. The NanoGene assay utilizes DNA hybridization in solution and a combination of magnetic beads and quantum dot nanoparticles. Unlike the existing gene quantification assays, the NanoGene method is capable of quantifying genes in the presence of environmental inhibitors and cell materials. The performance of the ultrasonication was compared with heating and freeze-thaw. They first were evaluated for their cell lysis capability in humic acids laden sand samples, via EtBr assay. Using autoclaved samples as a bench mark, their cell lysis capability were 106 ± 3, 68 ± 5, and 48 ± 15%, respectively. Morphological changes of cells for each method were also observed by FE-SEM. More importantly, ultrasonication performed significantly better (more than 3× fluorescence signal) than commercial DNA extraction methods during bacterial gene quantification in humic acids laden sand samples.

Vulnerability of DNA hybridization in soils is due to Mg²⁺ ion induced DNA aggregation

Wang, Xiaofang,Kweon, Hyojin,Lee, Seokho,Shin, Hyejin,Chua, Beelee,Liles, Mark R.,Lee, Ming-kuo,Son, Ahjeong Elsevier 2018 Soil biology & biochemistry Vol.125 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The NanoGene assay is an inhibitor-resistant gene quantification assay based on magnetic bead and quantum dot nanoparticles. It employs a set of probe and signaling probe DNAs to capture target DNA via hybridization. Using simple DNA preparation that bypasses conventional DNA extraction, it was able to detect and quantify specific bacterial genes in environmental sample. In this study, the vulnerability of the NanoGene assay to the presence of various environmental factors was investigated. A total of 43 soil samples were inoculated with 10<SUP>9</SUP> CFU/mL of <I>Pseudomonas putida</I> prior to DNA isolation without purification. Subsequently, the NanoGene assay was performed for quantitative detection of <I>P. putida</I> with respect to 12 soil properties including pH, moisture, humic acids, organic matter, sand, silt, clay, cation exchange capability, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Using multiple linear regression, the NanoGene assay was found to be particularly vulnerable to the presence of Mg<SUP>2+</SUP>, which was selected as a major variable (<I>P</I> = 0.001). The vulnerability of the NanoGene assay to Mg<SUP>2+</SUP> was further explored by atomic force microscopy, which indicated significant Mg<SUP>2+</SUP>-mediated DNA aggregation. The inhibition of the NanoGene assay from some soil samples as a consequence of DNA aggregation could therefore be prevented by the use of Mg<SUP>2+</SUP> chelators such as EDTA, enabling application of this method across diverse soil types.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> The NanoGene assay was able to detect and quantify specific bacterial genes in environmental soils with minimum inhibition. </LI> <LI> The effect of various soil properties to the bacterial detection by NanoGene assay was investigated over diverse soil types. </LI> <LI> Multiple linear regression indicated the major soil property that affects the NanoGene assay is Mg<SUP>2+</SUP> ion in soils. </LI> <LI> Further investigation by atomic force microscopy indicated it was due to the Mg<SUP>2+</SUP>-mediated DNA aggregation. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Characterization of denaturation and renaturation of DNA for DNA hybridization

Wang, Xiaofang,Lim, Hyun Jeong,Son, Ahjeong The Korean Society of Environmental Toxicology 2014 환경독성보건학회지 Vol.29 No.-

Objectives The present study was designed to systematically characterize the denaturation and the renaturation of double stranded DNA (dsDNA), which is suitable for DNA hybridization. Methods A series of physical and chemical denaturation methods were implemented on well-defined 86-bp dsDNA fragment. The degree of each denaturation was measured and the most suitable denaturation method was determined. DNA renaturation tendency was also investigated for the suggested denaturation method. Results Heating, beads mill, and sonication bath did not show any denaturation for 30 minutes. However probe sonication fully denatured DNA in 5 minutes. 1 mol/L sodium hydroxide (alkaline treatment) and 60% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) treatment fully denatured DNA in 2-5 minutes. Conclusions Among all the physical methods applied, the direct probe sonication was the most effective way to denature the DNA fragments. Among chemical methods, 60% DMSO was the most adequate denaturation method since it does not cause full renaturation during DNA hybridization.

Characterization of denaturation and renaturation of DNA for DNA hybridization

Xiaofang Wang,Hyun Jeong Lim,Ahjeong Son 환경독성보건학회 2014 환경독성보건학회지 Vol.29 No.-

Objectives : The present study was designed to systematically characterize the denaturation and the renaturation of double stranded DNA (dsDNA), which is suitable for DNA hybridization. Methods : A series of physical and chemical denaturation methods were implemented on well-defined 86-bp dsDNA fragment. The degree of each denaturation was measured and the most suitable denaturation method was determined. DNA renaturation tendency was also investigated for the suggested denaturation method. Results : Heating, beads mill, and sonication bath did not show any denaturation for 30 minutes. However probe sonication fully denatured DNA in 5 minutes. 1 mol/L sodium hydroxide (alkaline treatment) and 60% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) treatment fully denatured DNA in 2-5 minutes. Conclusions : Among all the physical methods applied, the direct probe sonication was the most effective way to denature the DNA fragments. Among chemical methods, 60% DMSO was the most adequate denaturation method since it does not cause full renaturation during DNA hybridization.

Current-induced Polarization in (Ga,Mn)As Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor

Xiaofang Gu,Xuan Qian,Yang Ji,Lin Chen,Weizhu Wang,Jianhua Zhao 한국자기학회 2010 한국자기학회 학술연구발표회 논문개요집 Vol.2010 No.12

Measuring the Branching Angle for the Diagnosis of Hypertensive Retinopathy

Xiaofang Zhao,Huazhu Liu,Shanjin Wang,Tusheng Lin 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Vol.11 No.11

The sizes and changes in the retinal arteries branching angles are an important characteristic for diagnose of hypertension, and also used as a preliminary index of the future location of the branch. An algorithm that can automatically calculate the branching angle which is defined according to vascular blood flow dynamics is presented. The result shows that the theoretical prediction and manual measurement have good agreement.

Community-based Collaborative Filtering Recommendation Algorithm

Xiaofang Ding,Zhixiao Wang,Shaoda Chen,Ying Huang 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Hybrid Information Techno Vol.8 No.2

Collaborative filtering recommendation technology is by far the most widely used and successful personalized recommendation technology. However, the method currently faced with some problems such as sparse matrix, affecting the accuracy of the predicted results. This paper puts forward a new community detection algorithm based on topological potential theory, and combines it with collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm. The users with similar interests are put into the same community. When searching for the user’s nearest neighbor, it target to the users in a specific community or several communities instead of all users, which narrows the search and improves the prediction accuracy. Experimental results suggest that this approach effectively reduces the impact on the prediction accuracy of the sparse matrix, and significantly improves the prediction ability and recommendation quality.

An Optimization for Hybrid Semantic Similarity Computation

Zhixiao Wang,Xiaofang Ding,Ying Huang 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Hybrid Information Techno Vol.8 No.10

Semantic similarity computation is of great importance in many applications such as natural language processing, knowledge acquisition and information retrieval. In recent years, many concept similarity measures have been developed for ontology and lexical taxonomy. Generally speaking, ontology concepts semantic similarity computation is tedious and time-consuming. This paper puts forward an optimization algorithm to simplify semantic similarity computation. The optimization algorithm utilizes hierarchical relationship between concepts to simplify similarity computation process. Simulation experiments showed the optimization algorithm could make similarity computation simple and convenient, and similarity computation speed was improved by one time. The more complexity an ontology structure, and the bigger the maximum depth of ontology, the more significantly the performance improved.

Study on the Preparation Method of an Intelligent Candy

王英明(Wang Yingming),杨,润,润,(Yang Runrun),冯,小芳(Feng Xiaofang),刘,静,(Liu Jing),胡林峰(Hu Linfeng) 아시아사회과학학회 2021 International Science Research Vol.1 No.1

Objective: To develop an intelligent soft candy with good taste, sweet taste and rich nutrition. Methods: Take dioscorea rhizoma and poria as main raw materials, study the content of konjac gum,gelatin,malt syrup and water on property of soft sweets,choose the best technology for making soft sweets. Results: The producted candy is sweet, soft and full of elasticity. Conclusion: The optimal formula of soft candy was 1%dioscorea rhizoma, 1% Poria, 3% konjac gum, 0.9% gelatin, 0.1% potassium sorbate, 69% water and 25% malt.