Proposal of a Pretreatment Nomogram for Predicting Local Recurrence after Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in T4 Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Retrospective Review of 415 Chinese Patients

Lu-Lu Zhang,Yi-Yang Li,Jiang Hu,Guan-Qun Zhou,Lei Chen,Wen-Fei Li,Ai-Hua Lin,Jun Ma,Zhen-Yu Qi,Ying Sun 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.4

Purpose Local relapse-free survival (LRFS) differs widely among patients with T4 category nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We aimed to build a nomogram incorporating clinicopathological information to predict LRFS in T4 NPC after definitive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Materials and Methods Retrospective study of 415 Chinese patients with non-metastatic T4 NPC treated with definitive IMRT with or without chemotherapy at our cancer center between October 2009 and September 2013. The nomogram for LRFS at 3 and 5 years was generated based on multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression, and validated using bootstrap resampling, assessing discriminative performance using the concordance index (C-index) and determining calibration ability via calibration curves. Results Five-year LRFS was 88.8%. We identified and incorporated four independent prognostic factors for LRFS: ethmoid sinus invasion, primary gross tumor volume, age, and pretreatment body mass index. The C-index of the nomogram for local recurrence was 0.732 (95% confidence interval, 0.726 to 0.738), indicating excellent predictive accuracy. The calibration curve revealed excellent agreement between nomogram-predicted and observed LRFS probabilities. Risk subgroups based on total point score cutoff values enabled effective discrimination of LRFS. Conclusion This pretreatment nomogram enables clinicians to accurately predict LRFS in T4 NPC after definitive IMRT, and could help to facilitate personalized patient counselling and treatment strategies.

Pruning Enhances Earlier Flowering in Hylocereus undatus

Yi-Lu Jiang,Tzong-Shyan Lin,Chung-Ruey Yen 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

Intravenous Tenecteplase for Acute Ischemic Stroke Within 4.5–24 Hours of Onset (ROSE-TNK): A Phase 2, Randomized, Multicenter Study

Wang Lu,Dai Ying-Jie,Cui Yu,Zhang Hong,Jiang Chang-Hao,Duan Ying-Jie,Zhao Yong,Feng Ye-Fang,Geng Shi-Mei,Zhang Zai-Hui,Lu Jiang,Zhang Ping,Zhao Li-Wei,Zhao Hang,Ma Yu-Tong,Song Cheng-Guang,Zhang Yi,Ch 대한뇌졸중학회 2023 Journal of stroke Vol.25 No.3

Background and Purpose Intravenous tenecteplase (TNK) efficacy has not been well demonstrated in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) beyond 4.5 hours after onset. This study aimed to determine the effect of intravenous TNK for AIS within 4.5 to 24 hours of onset. Methods In this pilot trial, eligible AIS patients with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) mismatch were randomly allocated to intravenous TNK (0.25 mg/kg) or standard care within 4.5–24 hours of onset. The primary endpoint was excellent functional outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score of 0–1). The primary safety endpoint was symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH). Results Of the randomly assigned 80 patients, the primary endpoint occurred in 52.5% (21/40) of TNK group and 50.0% (20/40) of control group, with no significant difference (unadjusted odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval 0.46–2.66; <i>P</i>=0.82). More early neurological improvement occurred in TNK group than in control group (11 vs. 3, <i>P</i>=0.03), but no significant differences were found in other secondary endpoints, such as mRS 0–2 at 90 days, shift analysis of mRS at 90 days, and change in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score at 24 hours and 7 days. There were no cases of sICH in this trial; however, asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 3 of the 40 patients (7.5%) in the TNK group. Conclusion This phase 2, randomized, multicenter study suggests that intravenous TNK within 4.5–24 hours of onset may be safe and feasible in AIS patients with a DWI-FLAIR mismatch.

Step-up and Step-down Asymmetrical 24-Pulse Autotransformer Rectifier

Lu Zhang,Hong-juan Ge,Fan Jiang,Guang Yang,Yi Lin 전력전자학회 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

The existing 24-pulse autotransformer rectifier unit (ATRU) needs interphase reactors for parallel work of the rectifier bridges, and its output voltage cannot be regulated. Aiming at these problems, a step-up and step-down asymmetrical 24-pulse ATRU is proposed in this paper. The connections and turns ratios among transformer windings are well designed. In addition, a 15-degree phase difference is formed between two of the 24 voltage vectors produced by the transformer, which makes the four rectifier bridge groups produce a 24-pulse DC voltage without interphase reactors. Meanwhile, by adding extended winding to each phase of the transformer, wide-range regulation of the ATRU output voltage can be realized, and the reasonable voltage regulation range is between 0.2 and 1.6. The superposition of the voltage vectors and the principle of the voltage regulation are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the turns ratio of the windings, winding current, output voltage, and kilovolt-ampere rating are all derived. Finally, the simulations and experiments are carried out, and the correctness of the principle and theoretical analysis of the new 24-pulse ATRU are verified.

RTN4 3'-UTR Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Chinese Han Population

Lu, De-Yi,Mao, Xu-Hua,Zhou, Ying-Hui,Yan, Xiao-Long,Wang, Wei-Ping,Zheng, Ya-Biao,Xiao, Juan-Juan,Zhang, Ping,Wang, Jian-Guo,Ashwani, Neetika,Ding, Wei-Liang,Jiang, Hua,Shang, Yan,Wang, Ming-Hua Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Nogo protein, encoded by gene reticulon-4 (RTN4), includes three major isoforms by different splicing, named Nogo-A Nogo-B and Nogo-C. Nogo proteins play an important role in the apoptosis of cells, especially in tumor cells. RTN4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can influence the efficiency of transcription and translation thus being related with an individual's predisposition to cancer. The CAA insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs34917480) within RTN4 3'-UTR has been reported to be associated with many cancer types. In order to investigate the relationship between this polymorphism and susceptibility to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Chinese population, we conducted the present case-control study including 411 NSCLC patients and 471 unrelated healthy controls. The genotype distributions were significantly different between cases and controls (p=0.014). We found that the del allele could significantly increase NSCLC risk (ins/ins vs ins/del: p=0.007, OR 1.46, 95%CI=1.11-1.93; dominant model: p=0.004, OR 1.47, 95%CI=1.13-1.92 and allele model: p=0.008, OR 1.35, 95%CI=1.08-1.67). This association was stronger in participants over 60 years old, males and smokers. We therefore conclude that the CAA insertion/deletion polymorphism (rs34917480) contributes to non-small cell lung cancer risk in Chinese population. Age, sex and environmental exposure are also related to carcinogenic effects of rs34917480.

Flavonoid Production Is Effectively Regulated by RNAi Interference of Two Flavone Synthase Genes from Glycine max

Yi Na Jiang,Biao Wang,Hui Li,Lu Ming Yao,Tian Long Wu 한국식물학회 2010 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.53 No.6

Flavonoids are a group of secondary metabolites found in many higher plants. The multiple roles of their flavone subclass include protection against UV damage,regulation of auxin transport, and modulation of flower color. In soybean (Glycine max), flavone synthase II (FNS II) is the key enzyme responsible for flavone biosynthesis. Two FNS II genes from soybean cultivar Hefeng 47 were cloned according to basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) contexts using flavone synthase sequences reported in other species. These were named GmFNSII-1and GmFNSII-2. Sequence alignments showed that the cDNA of GmFNSII-1 was identical to that of CYP93B16,whereas GmFNSII-2 was clearly distinct. Functional assays in yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) suggested that these two enzymes could convert (2S)-naringenin into apigenin. The two GmFNSII genes had similar tissue-specific expression patterns, but GmFNSII-2 was significantly expressed in the roots after treatment with 0.4 M glucose. This demonstrates that the gene plays an important role in the response to defense signals in soybean. RNA interference-mediated suppression of those GmFNSII genes effectively regulated flavone and isoflavone production in hairy roots that arose from soybean cotyledons transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes (ATCC15834). Our study also highlights some of the challenges associated with metabolic engineering of plant natural products.

Multiple damage detection of maglev rail joints using time-frequency spectrogram and convolutional neural network

Yi-Qing Ni,Su-Mei Wang,Gao-Feng Jiang,Yang Lu,Guobin Lin,Hong-Liang Pan,Junqi Xu,Shuo Hao 국제구조공학회 2022 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.29 No.4

Maglev rail joints are vital components serving as connections between the adjacent F-type rail sections in maglev guideway. Damage to maglev rail joints such as bolt looseness may result in rough suspension gap fluctuation, failure of suspension control, and even sudden clash between the electromagnets and F-type rail. The condition monitoring of maglev rail joints is therefore highly desirable to maintain safe operation of maglev. In this connection, an online damage detection approach based on three-dimensional (3D) convolutional neural network (CNN) and time-frequency characterization is developed for simultaneous detection of multiple damage of maglev rail joints in this paper. The training and testing data used for condition evaluation of maglev rail joints consist of two months of acceleration recordings, which were acquired in-situ from different rail joints by an integrated online monitoring system during a maglev train running on a test line. Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) method is applied to transform the raw monitoring data into time-frequency spectrograms (TFS). Three CNN architectures, i.e., small-sized CNN (S-CNN), middle-sized CNN (M-CNN), and large-sized CNN (L-CNN), are configured for trial calculation and the M-CNN model with excellent prediction accuracy and high computational efficiency is finally optioned for multiple damage detection of maglev rail joints. Results show that the rail joints in three different conditions (bolt-loosenesscaused rail step, misalignment-caused lateral dislocation, and normal condition) are successfully identified by the proposed approach, even when using data collected from rail joints from which no data were used in the CNN training. The capability of the proposed method is further examined by using the data collected after the loosed bolts have been replaced. In addition, by comparison with the results of CNN using frequency spectrum and traditional neural network using TFS, the proposed TFSCNN framework is proven more accurate and robust for multiple damage detection of maglev rail joints.

Maternal Separation Induced Visceral Hypersensitivity from Childhood to Adulthood

( Lisha Yi ),( Haiqin Zhang ),( Huihui Sun ),( Lu Zhou ),( Ying Chen ),( Liqian Xuan ),( Yuanxi Jiang ),( Shuchang Xu ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회(구 대한소화관운동학회) 2017 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.23 No.2

Background/Aims Early adverse life events (EALs) are relevant to irritable bowel syndrome in adulthood. Maternal separation (MS), as one of the EALs, has proved to induce visceral hypersensitivity in adult rats. However, the effect of MS on visceral hypersensitvity from the post-weaning period to adulthood remains unknown. Methods One hundred and ten neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: rats in the MS group were exposed to 3 hours daily MS on postnatal day (PND) 2-14; the normal control (NC) group remained undisturbed. Visceral sensitivity was determined by measuring the visceromotor response to colorectal distention on PND21, 35, and 56. Anxiety-like behaviors were measured by the open field test. Results Compared with NC rats, MS rats showed significant visceral hypersensitivity from the post-weaning period to adult. The proportion of visceral hypersensitive rats decreased with age from 87.5% to 70.0% in the female MS group and from 90.0% to 66.7% in the male MS group. The relative VMR ratio of MS and NC on PND21 was higher than PND35 and PND56. MS rats showed decreased ability of movement and exploration to the novel environment in the post-weaning period, obesity in the prepubertal period, and more anxietylike behaviors in adulthood. Conclusions MS can significantly affect visceral sensitivity and behaviors of rats in different age stages, especially in the post-weaning period. Visceral hypersensitivity of MS rats is more pronounced in the post-weaning period and slightly restored in adults. Thus, visceral hypersensitivity in the post-weaning period might play a more meaningful pathophysiologic role in the formation of adult irritable bowel syndrome. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2017;23:306-315)

Step-up and Step-down Asymmetrical 24-Pulse Autotransformer Rectifier

Zhang, Lu,Ge, Hong-juan,Jiang, Fan,Yang, Guang,Lin, Yi The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

The existing 24-pulse autotransformer rectifier unit (ATRU) needs interphase reactors for parallel work of the rectifier bridges, and its output voltage cannot be regulated. Aiming at these problems, a step-up and step-down asymmetrical 24-pulse ATRU is proposed in this paper. The connections and turns ratios among transformer windings are well designed. In addition, a 15-degree phase difference is formed between two of the 24 voltage vectors produced by the transformer, which makes the four rectifier bridge groups produce a 24-pulse DC voltage without interphase reactors. Meanwhile, by adding extended winding to each phase of the transformer, wide-range regulation of the ATRU output voltage can be realized, and the reasonable voltage regulation range is between 0.2 and 1.6. The superposition of the voltage vectors and the principle of the voltage regulation are analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the turns ratio of the windings, winding current, output voltage, and kilovolt-ampere rating are all derived. Finally, the simulations and experiments are carried out, and the correctness of the principle and theoretical analysis of the new 24-pulse ATRU are verified.

Improved Control Strategy Based on Space Vectors for Suppressing Grid-Side Current Harmonics in Three-Phase Current Source Rectifiers with a Hybrid Switch

Xu, Yan,Lu, Guang-Xiang,Jiang, Li-Jie,Yi, Gui-Ping The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2015 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.15 No.2

This paper analyses the harmonic pollution to power grids caused by several high-power rectifiers, summarizes the requirements for rectifiers in suppressing grid-side current harmonics and optimizes a new-type of current source PWM rectifier with a hybrid switch. The rectifier with a hybrid switch boasts significant current characteristics and cost advantages in the high-power area. To further enhance the working frequency of the current source rectifier with a hybrid switch for suppressing grid-side harmonics and reducing the inductance size, this paper proposes an optimal control strategy based on space vector. It also verifies that the optimal control strategy based on space vector can reduce the total harmonic distortion of the grid-side current of the rectifier with a hybrid switch via circuit simulation and experimental results.