A Phase 3 Evaluation of Daclatasvir plus Asunaprevir in Treatment-Naive Patients with Chronic HCV Genotype 1b Infection

( L. Wei ),( F. Wang ),( M. Zhang ),( J. Jia ),( A.A. Yakovlev ),( W. Xie ),( E.Z. Burnevich ),( J. Niu ),( Y.J. Jung ),( X. Jiang ),( M. Xu ),( X. Chen ),( Q. Xie ),( J. Li ),( J. Hou ),( H. Tang ),( 대한간학회 2017 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2017 No.1

Background/Aims: Treatment-naive GT 1b-infected patients from mainland China, South Korea and Russia were assessed for SVR at follow-up week 12 (SVR12) after receiving daclatasvir (60 mg, QD) and asunaprevir (100 mg, BID) (DCV+ASV). Methods: Patients were randomized 3:1 to receive DCV+ASV (24 weeks; immediate treatment [IM]) or 12 weeks of placebo followed by DCV+ASV (24 weeks; placebo-deferred treatment [PD]). The primary endpoint was to evaluate SVR12 in the IM arm to the historical rate for peginterferon/ribavirin (70%). Secondary endpoints included overall safety and safety comparisons between the treatment arms during the first 12 weeks. Results: 207 patients were randomized to IM (n=155) or PD (n=52); Asian (86%), female (59%), IL28B CC genotype (68%) and median age 49 (range 18-73) years; cirrhosis (13%), HCV RNA ≥6x106 IU/mL (53%). SVR12 in the IM arm was 92% and broadly unaffected by most baseline factors assessed (Figure); SVR12 was higher in patients without (96%) baseline NS5A-L31M/V or Y93H polymorphisms. There were 6 virologic breakthroughs, 6 relapses and 1 detectable HCV RNA at end-of-treatment in the IM arm. Safety was mostly comparable between the two arms during the first 12 weeks. The most frequent adverse events (AEs; ≥5%) during DCV+ASV (24 weeks) treatment in both arms were aminotransferase, bilirubin and INR elevations, hypertension, fatigue and respiratory tract infections; the most frequent treatment-emergent grade 3/4 laboratory abnormalities were aminotransferase (≤4.5%) and hematologic, lipase and total bilirubin abnormalities (≤2%); one patient (IM) discontinued DCV+ASV for aminotransferase elevations, nausea and jaundice (all reversible); one patient PD) discontinued DCV+ASV for a fatal AE unrelated to treatment. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that DCV+ASV is a highly efficacious and well tolerated treatment for treatment-naive HCV GT 1b-infected patients. Those treated immediately with DCV+ASV achieved a 92% SVR12 rate which was unaffected by factors known to attenuate response to interferon.

The effect of spin reorientation transition of antiferromagnetic NiO on the Py magnetic anisotropy in Py/NiO/CoO/MgO(0 0 1)

Yang, M.,Li, Q.,N'Diaye, A.T.,Dong, Q.Y.,Gao, N.,Arenholz, E.,Hwang, C.,Wu, Y.Z.,Qiu, Z.Q. Elsevier 2018 Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials Vol.460 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Using X-ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism (XMLD) measurement, we investigate the antiferromagnetic (AFM) NiO spin reorientation transition (SRT) in epitaxial NiO/CoO/MgO(0 0 1) system at room temperature and constructed a complete NiO spin phase diagram. Then utilizing Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (MOKE) combined with a rotation magnetic field (ROTMOKE), we investigated the effect of NiO SRT on the magnetic anisotropy of a ferromagnetic (FM) Py overlayer in Py/NiO/CoO/MgO(0 0 1) system. We find that the Py coercivity and anisotropy only slightly enhanced for Py on top of out-of-plane NiO spins but greatly enhanced for Py on top of in-plane NiO spins. Both the uniaxial and fourfold anisotropies of the Py showed a clear dependence on the NiO spin orientation.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Spin reorientation transition (SRT) of antiferromagnetic NiO. </LI> <LI> Direct measurement of antiferromagnetic spins using XMLD. </LI> <LI> Quantitative determination of Py magnetic anisotropy using ROTMOKE. </LI> <LI> Demonstration of the effect of the NiO SRT on the Py magnetic anisotropy. </LI> </UL> </P>

Evolution of self-assembled Ag nanostructures on c-plane sapphire by the systematic control of annealing temperature

Sui, M.,Pandey, P.,Kunwar, S.,Li, M.-Y.,Zhang, Q.,Lee, J. Elsevier 2016 Superlattices and microstructures Vol.100 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The morphological evolution of various Ag nanostructures on <I>c</I>-plane sapphire is systematically investigated through the solid-state-dewetting by the control of annealing temperature between 200 and 950 °C with the Ag films of 60 and 10 nm. Various configurations of Ag nanostructures including Ag voids, wiggly and round nanoparticles are fabricated with the 60 nm due to the annealing temperature dependent surface diffusion, surface energy minimization and Ag sublimation. As a sharp distinction, highly dense semi-spherical nanoparticles are fabricated with the 10 nm set throughout the temperature range due to a much higher dewetting degree induced by the enhanced surface diffusion with a much thinner film. The reflectance spectra shows a spectral shift along with the size variation, i.e. blue shift with the decreased size and vice versa. The reflectance and Raman spectra reveal a sharp distinction between the two sets along with the strong correlation to the nanostructure morphology.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Various configurations of self-assembled Ag nanostructures on c-plane sapphire. </LI> <LI> Single configuration Ag nanoparticles throughout the range with a thinner film. </LI> <LI> Detailed morphology study by SEM and AFM. </LI> <LI> Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy confirmation of consistent sublimation above 650 °C. </LI> <LI> Reflectance and Raman of various configurations of Ag nanostructures. </LI> </UL> </P>

True Digestibility of Phosphorus in Different Resources of Feed Ingredients in Growing Pigs

Wu, X.,Ruan, Z.,Zhang, Y.G.,Hou, Y.Q.,Yin, Y.L.,Li, T.J.,Huang, R.L.,Chu, W.Y.,Kong, X.F.,Gao, B.,Chen, L.X. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2008 Animal Bioscience Vol.21 No.1

To determine the true digestible phosphorus (TDP) requirement of growing pigs, two experiments were designed with the experimental diets containing five true digestible P levels (0.16%, 0.20%, 0.23%, 0.26% and 0.39%) and the ratio of total calcium to true digestible P (TDP) kept at 2:1. In Experiment 1, five barrows (Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) with an average initial body weight of 27.9 kg were used in a $5{\times}5$ Latin-square design to evaluate the effect of different dietary P levels on the digestibility and output of P and nitrogen. In Experiment 2, sixty healthy growing pigs (Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire) with an average body weight (BW) of 21.4 kg were assigned randomly to one of the five dietary treatments (12 pigs/diet), and were used to determine the true digestible phosphorus (TDP) requirement of growing pigs on the basis of growth performance and serum biochemical indices. The results indicated that the true digestibility of P increased (p<0.05) linearly with increasing dietary TDP level below 0.26%. The true P digestibility was highest (56.6%) when dietary TDP was 0.34%. Expressed as g/kg dry matter intake (DMI), fecal P output increased (p<0.05) linearly with increasing P input. On the basis of g/kg fecal dry matter (DM), fecal P output was lowest for Diet 4 and highest (p<0.05) for Diet 5. The apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP) did not differ (p>0.05) among the five diets, with the average nitrogen output of 12.14 g/d and nitrogen retention of 66% to 74% (p>0.05), which suggested that there was no interaction between dietary P and CP protein levels. During the 28-d experimental period of Experiment 2, the average daily gain (ADG) of pigs was affected by dietary TDP levels as described by Eq. (1): $y=-809,532x^4+788,079x^3-276,250x^2+42,114x-1,759$; ($R^2=0.99$; p<0.01; y = ADG, g/d; x = dietary TDP, %), F/G for pigs by Eq. (2): $y=3,651.1x^4-3,480.4x^3+1,183.8x^2-172.5x+10.9$ ($R^2=0.99$; p<0.01; y = F/G; x = dietary TDP, %), and Total P concentrations in serum by Eq. (3): $y=-3,311.7x^4+3,342.7x^3-1,224.6x^2+195.6x-8.7$ (R2 = 0.99; p<0.01; y = total serum P concentration and x = dietary TDP, %). The highest ADG (782 g/d), the lowest F/G (1.07) and the highest total serum P concentration (3.1 mmol/L) were obtained when dietary TDP level was 0.34%. Collectively, these results indicate that the optimal TDP requirement of growing pigs is 0.34% of the diet at a total Ca to TDP ratio of 2:1.

HETEROGENEOUS SOLIDIFICATION OF ALUMINUM ON BORON-NITRIDE NANOTUBE

Y. F. LI,H. Q. YU,H. LI,K. M. LIEW,X. F. LIU 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2010 NANO Vol.5 No.6

Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to examine the heterogeneous solidification of aluminum solution seeded by foreign boron-nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). The final structure indicates noticeably that Al atoms are concentrated to form incredible hierarchical nanostructures composed of coaxial and equidistant cylindrical shells with the BNNTs as the heterogeneous core. The structures of so-formed Al cylinders show strict structural matching and strong structural relevance with BNNTs. Heterogeneous solidification occurred on BNNTs follows a spiral nucleating mechanism. Heredity effect of these hollow cylinders can be clearly observed during the heterogeneous nucleation. The uniform internal potential field around BNNTs is found to be responsible for the formation of the coaxial cylindrical Al shells.

Protective Efficacy of Alpha-lipoic Acid against AflatoxinB1-induced Oxidative Damage in the Liver

Li, Y.,Ma, Q.G.,Zhao, L.H.,Guo, Y.Q.,Duan, G.X.,Zhang, J.Y.,Ji, C. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2014 Animal Bioscience Vol.27 No.6

Alpha-lipoic acid (${\alpha}$-LA) is not only involved in energy metabolism, but is also a powerful antioxidant that can protect against hepatic oxidative stress induced by some drugs, toxins, or under various physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here, we investigated the effect of ${\alpha}$-LA against liver oxidative damage in broilers exposed to aflatoxin $B_1$ ($AFB_1$). Birds were randomly divided into four groups and assigned different diets: basal diet, 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA supplementation in basal diet, diet containing 74 ${\mu}g/kg$ $AFB_1$, and 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA supplementation in diet containing 74 ${\mu}g/kg$ $AFB_1$, for 3 weeks. The results revealed that the addition of 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA protected against the liver function damage of broilers induced by chronic low dose of $AFB_1$ as estimated by a significant (p<0.05) change in levels of plasma total protein, albumin, alkaline phosphatase and the activities of liver glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. The histopathological analysis also showed that liver tissues were injured in the $AFB_1$ diet, but this effect was alleviated by the addition of 300 mg/kg ${\alpha}$-LA. Additionally, $AFB_1$ induced a profound elevation of oxidative stress in birds, as indicated by an increase in malondialdehyde level, a decrease in glutathione peroxidase activity and a depletion of the glutathione content in the liver. All of these negative effects were inhibited by treatment with ${\alpha}$-LA. Our results suggest that the inhibition of $AFB_1$-induced excess production of lipid peroxides and the maintenance of intracellular antioxidant status may play important roles in the protective effects of ${\alpha}$-LA against $AFB_1$-induced oxidative damage in the liver.

Evaluation of vertical dynamic characteristics of cantilevered tall structures

Li, Q.S.,Xu, J.Y.,Li, G.Q. Techno-Press 2001 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.11 No.4

In this paper, cantilevered tall structures are treated as cantilever bars with varying cross-section for the analysis of their free longitudinal (or axial) vibrations. Using appropriate transformations, exact analytical solutions to determine the longitudinal natural frequencies and mode shapes for a one step non-uniform bar are derived by selecting suitable expressions, such as exponential functions, for the distributions of mass and axial stiffness. The frequency equation of a multi-step bar is established using the approach that combines the transfer matrix procedure or the recurrence formula and the closed-form solutions of one step bars, leading to a single frequency equation for any number of steps. The Ritz method is also applied to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes in the vertical direction for cantilevered tall structures with variably distributed stiffness and mass. The formulae proposed in this paper are simple and convenient for engineering applications. Numerical example shows that the fundamental longitudinal natural frequency and mode shape of a 27-storey building determined by the proposed methods are in good agreement with the corresponding measured data. It is also shown that the selected expressions are suitable for describing the distributions of axial stiffness and mass of typical tall buildings.

AG NANOPARTICLES-MODIFIED ANATASE TiO 2 SINGLE CRYSTALS CUBES FOR IMPROVING PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION

Y. Q. LIANG,X. J. YANG,Z. D. CUI,S. L. ZHU,Z. Y. LI 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2014 NANO Vol.9 No.2

Ag nanoparticles were deposited by polyol process onto the as-synthesized anatase TiO 2 cubeswith single crystals by hydrothermal method. The materials were characterized by SEM, XRD,TEM, XPS and UV-vis spectroscopy and their photoconversion e±ciencies were also evaluated. The photocurrent measurements revealed that the modi¯cation of the anatase TiO 2 cubes withAg nanoparticles improved the photoelectrochemical properties of electrodes.

MHD Instability Fluctuation Measurement on the HL-2A Tokamak by Using the HCN Laser Interferometer

Y. G. Li,Y. Zhou,Z. C. Deng,J. Yi,Y. Li,H. X. Wang,X. Q. Ji,W. Deng 한국물리학회 2014 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.65 No.8

The multichannel HCN laser interferometer has been routinely used to measure the electron density(ne) on the HL-2A tokamak for several years. In order to explore its capability for qualitativelyevaluating the Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluctuation in plasmas from the probing signal, weimplemented two important modifications on the hardware of channel #3 (r = −10.5 cm): (1) applicationof the high-response Schottky diode waveguide detector, and (2) utilization of a preamplifierwith a broad pass-band of up to 500 kHz so as not to filter the fluctuation component mixed withthe intermediate frequency (IF). Many MHD fluctuation phenomena, such as tearing modes (TMs),fishbones, long lived modes (LLMs), have been successfully detected by using the modified channel#3 in the HL-2A experimental campaign, and the results were quite coincident with those derivedfrom the magnetic probe and the soft X-ray systems. We propose to apply this novel approach tomore channels of the HCN laser interferometer.

Synthesis and evaluation of a novel chiral derivatization reagent for resolution of carboxylic acid enantiomers by RP-HPLC

Li, L.P.,Jin, M.N.,Shi, Q.,Xu, C.Y.,Jiang, Y.Z.,Lee, Y.I.,Min, J.Z. Academic Press 2017 Microchemical Journal Vol. No.

<P>A novel derivatization reagent, N-[1-Oxo-5-(triphenylphosphonium)pentyl]-(S)-3-aminopyrrolidine (OTPA), with triphenylphosphine (TPP) as a basic structure carrying a permanent positive charge was developed for the enantiomeric separation of chiral carboxylic acids by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). OTPA reacted with the carboxylic acids at 40 degrees C within 90 min in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt). The degree of epimerization (racemization) during the derivatization reaction was negligible. The separability of the diastereomers was evaluated in terms of their resolution value (Rs). The Rs values of the derivatives of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which were selected as the representative carboxylic acids, were completely separated by reversed-phase chromatography using an ODS (4.6 mm x 150 mm I.D., 5.0 mu m) column. The resolution Rs values were 1.54-2.23 for the evaluated carboxylic acids and the OTPA-derivatization was also effective for the enantiomeric separation of chiral carboxylic acids. The calibration curves (r(2) > 0.9971) were linear over the concentration range of 0.0125-1.25 mM for each enantiomer of ketoprofen (KET), and naproxen (NAP), 0.05-1.0 mM for each enantiomer of ibuprofen (IBU), 2-phenylpropionic acid (PPA), and loxoprofen (LOX), and 0.05-1.25 mM for each enantiomer of PBA. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) for each of the enantiomers of the NSAIDs and chiral carboxylic acid enantiomers was 1.4-7.6 mu mol/L. The inter-day and intra-day assay precisions were all <6.77% and the mean recoveries (%) of the NSAIDs and chiral carboxylic acids from the spiked human plasma were 95.27-101.12%. The derivatization followed by HPLC-UV enabled the separation and detection of NAP in human plasma with simple pretreatment. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>