Safety assessment of biological nanofood products via intelligent computer simulation

Zhao, Yunfeng,Zhang, Le Techno-Press 2022 Advances in nano research Vol.13 No.2

Emerge of nanotechnology impacts all aspects of humans' life. One of important aspects of the nanotechnology and nanoparticles (NPs) is in the food production industry. The safety of such foods is not well recognized and producing safe foods using nanoparticles involves delicate experiments. In this study, we aim to incorporate intelligent computer simulation in predicting safety degree of nanofoods. In this regard, the safety concerns on the nano-foods are addressed considering cytotoxicity levels in metal oxides nanoparticles using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and response surface method (RSM). Three descriptors including chemical bond length, lattice energy and enthalpy of formation gaseous cation of 15 selected NPs are examined to find their influence on the cytotoxicity of NPs. The most effective descriptor is selected using RSM method and dependency of the toxicity of these NPs on the descriptors are presented in 2D and 3D graphs obtained using ANFIS technique. A comprehensive parameters study is conducted to observe effects of different descriptors on cytotoxicity of NPs. The results indicated that combinations of descriptors have the most effects on the cytotoxicity.

Microwave-assisted dissolution of UO2 with TBP-HNO3 complex

Yunfeng Zhao,Jing Chen 한국화학공학회 2009 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.26 No.1

The direct dissolution of UO2 in TBP-HNO3 complex by microwave heating in this study suggests the possibility of dissolving spent nuclear fuels. This new technique offers many benefits for reduction in aqueous and organic waste generation and improved efficiency of chemical processing. The dissolution rate of UO2 particles with TBP-HNO3 complex by microwave assisted heating is highly dependent on the temperature and the particle size.

Cellular U-Shaped Steel Combination Column Seismic Performance Analysis

Yunfeng Li,Cheng Zhao,Qianqian Lu 한국강구조학회 2021 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.21 No.5

In this paper, a new form of structural design of the combination column—Cellular U-shaped steel combination column, as vertical force components applied to steel structure buildings. By changing the diameter size of honeycomb holes, the thickness of U-shaped steel and embellished plates, and the steel strength, the seismic properties of this new combination steel column are studied by using ABAQUS fi nite element software. Results the setting of honeycomb hole is reduced by part, the delay of the test piece and its energy consumption capacity are improved to varying degrees, the stiff ness degradation rate is improved, and the setting of honeycomb steel plays a certain role in the seismic performance of the steel column. The experiment is used as a reference, and the destruction form and carrying capacity are compared, so that the numerical model has some credibility. Results the strength and stiff ness of the cell U-shaped steel grid composition column are analyzed to meet the standards, the seismic performance is good, and can be applied to engineering practice.

Effects of lactic acid bacteria and molasses on fermentation dynamics, structural and nonstructural carbohydrate composition and in vitro ruminal fermentation of rice straw silage

Jie Zhao,Zhihao Dong,Junfeng Li,Lei Chen,Yunfeng Bai,Yushan Jia,Tao Shao 아세아·태평양축산학회 2019 Animal Bioscience Vol.32 No.6

Objective: This study was to evaluate the fermentation dynamics, structural and nonstructural carbohydrate composition and in vitro gas production of rice straw ensiled with lactic acid bacteria and molasses. Methods: Fresh rice straw was ensiled in 1-L laboratory silos with no additive control (C), Lactobacillus plantarum (L), molasses (M) and molasses+Lactobacillus plantarum (ML) for 6, 15, 30, and 60 days. After storage, the silages were subjected to microbial and chemical analyses as well as the further in vitro fermentation trial. Results: All additives increased lactic acid concentration, and reduced pH, dry matter (DM) loss and structural carbohydrate content relative to the control (p<0.05). The highest organic acid and residual sugar contents and lignocellulose reduction were observed in ML silage. L silage had the highest V-score with 88.10 followed by ML silage. L and ML silage improved in vitro DM digestibility as compared with other treatments, while in vitro neutral detergent fibre degradability (IVNDFD) was increased in M and ML silage (p<0.05). M silage significantly (p<0.05) increased propionic acid (PA) content and decreased butyric acid content and acetic acid/PA as well as 72-h cumulative gas production. Conclusion: The application of ML was effective for improving both the fermentation quality and in vitro digestibility of rice straw silage. Inclusion with molasses to rice straw could reduce in vitro ruminal gas production.

Immune Effect of Newcastle Disease Virus DNA Vaccine with C3d as a Molecular Adjuvant

( Kai Zhao ),( Xutong Duan ),( Lianwei Hao ),( Xiaohua Wang ),( Yunfeng Wang ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2017 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.27 No.11

Newcastle disease is a serious infectious disease in the poultry industry. The commercial vaccines can only offer limited protection and some of them are expensive and need adjuvants. At present, DNA vaccines are widely used. However, the immune responses induced by DNA vaccines are too slow and low. Here, we constructed the transfer vectors with a different number of C3d as molecular adjuvants (n = 1, 2, 4, or 6), and the vectors were cloned into the optimal eukaryotic expression plasmid (pVAXI-optiF) that expressed the F gene of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and named pVAXI-F(o)-C3d1, pVAXI -F(o)-C3d2, pVAXI-F(o)-C3d4, and pVAXI-F(o)-C3d6, respectively. Cell transfection test indicated that pVAXI-F(o)-C3d6 showed the highest expression. In vivo immunization showed that the chickens immunized with pVAXI-F(o)-C3d6 intramuscularly induced better immune responses than the chickens immunized with the other plasmids. The protective efficacy of pVAXI-F(o)-C3d6 was 80% after challenge with the highly virulent NDV strain F48E9. The results in this study showed that C3d6 could be used as a molecular adjuvant to quickly induce an effective immune response to control NDV.

SMGSA algorithm‑based MPPT control strategy

Yiping Xiao,Yunfeng Zhao,Zongtao Shen,Hongjian Jiao 전력전자학회 2024 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.24 No.5

Under partial shading conditions (PSCs), photovoltaic arrays exhibit power–voltage curves with multiple peaks. This phenomenon complicates the task of traditional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms, since they often converge to local maximum power points. To tackle this challenge, a novel MPPT control strategy, termed the slime mold golden sine algorithm (SMGSA), was introduced in this paper. This strategy adeptly identifies and tracks the global maximum power point. The efficacy of the SMGSA algorithm was assessed through six test functions from IEEE CEC 2020. A comparative analysis underscored its superior performance in both convergence speed and accuracy. A simulation model for MPPT was developed in MATLAB/Simulink. Within this model, various algorithms such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), tuna swarm optimization (TSO), slime mold algorithm (SMA), and SMGSA were examined. Comparative simulations revealed that the SMGSA-based MPPT strategy showcased expedited convergence speed and heightened accuracy under scenarios of uniform irradiance intensity, partial static shading, and dynamic shading. Consequently, the implementation of an SMGSAbased MPPT system can notably enhance the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic arrays under PSCs.

Time-varying Reliability of Suspension Bridge Towers under Random Vehicle Flow and Resistance Degradation

Nengzeng Long,Song Ren,Yunfeng Zhao,Fei Wu,Ping Zhang,Chuang Zhang 대한토목학회 2024 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.28 No.8

To address the problem of reliability calculation for long-span suspension bridge towers underthe combined time-varying effects of random vehicle flow and deterioration of resistance, thispaper examines the load response characteristics and extreme value time-varying trends oftower structures subjected to random vehicle flow. A time-dependent thickness model forcorrosive damage in concrete structures was established. Building on this, Building on this, thetime-varying reliability of the cable tower is calculated. The results showed that the loadresponse of the left and right towers was a stable Gaussian random process, and the loadresponse extremum increased with the increase of operation time. After 100 years of operation,the load response extremums in the Y direction of the tower tops were 87676.8 kN and89225.5 kN, respectively. At that time, the compressive strength of the towers decreased to0.77 times the initial value, and the thickness of the corrosion layer was about 0.16 m. Meanwhile, the time-varying reliability of the left and right towers showed the distributionpattern of an exponential function. After 60 years of operation, the reliability decreased to4.11 and 4.15, respectively. Moreover, the concrete elastic modulus had the most significanteffect on the failure probability of bridge towers. The research results could provide referencesfor the safety evaluation and structural maintenance of suspension bridges in operation.

Regeneration of full-scale commercial honeycomb monolith catalyst (V2O5–WO3/TiO2) used in coal-fired power plant

Xuesong Shang,Gongren Hu,Chi He,Jinping Zhao,Fuwang Zhang,Ya Xu,Yunfeng Zhang,Jianrong Li,Jinsheng Chen 한국공업화학회 2012 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.18 No.1

An effective and applicable method for the regeneration of used commercial full-scale honeycomb monolith catalysts in China (V2O5–WO3/TiO2) is firstly reported. The de-ionized water and dilute sulfuric acid solution with a relatively low concentration (pH = 2) are potent reagent to regenerated the catalysts used for about 30,000 h in coal-fired power plant. All samples were systematically characterized by TEM,N2 adsorption/desorption, EDX, FT-IR and XPS techniques. The evaluation results reveal that the activity of the used catalysts can be obviously improved after regeneration processes. Moreover, the regenerated catalysts possess superior activity under different gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), and SO2 oxidation rate is lower than 1% in all cases. The regeneration method can remove the deposits, restore active sites and prevent nanoparticles aggregation as well as active phases leaching. Overall, these processes have promised as effective approaches for industrial V2O5–WO3/TiO2 catalysts regeneration.

Facile hydrothermal synthesis of ultrahigh-aspect-ratio V2O5 nanowires for high-performance supercapacitors

Nannan Wang,Yifu Zhang,Tao Hu,Yunfeng Zhao,Changgong Meng 한국물리학회 2015 Current Applied Physics Vol.15 No.4

Ultrahigh-aspect-ratio V2O5 nanowires were successfully prepared using [VO(O2)2(OH2)]- as the starting material by a template-free hydrothermal route without the addition of organic surfactant or inorganic ions. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD). The results revealed that the peroxovanadium (V) complexes can be easily transformed to V2O5 nanowires by this hydrothermal route. The uniform nanowires were with width about 50 nm and length about dozens of micron. The BET analysis showed the V2O5 nanowires had a high specific surface area of 25.6 m2 g-1. The synthesized V2O5 nanowires performed a high capacitance of 351 F g-1 when used as supercapacitor electrode in 1 mol L-1 LiNO3.

Dihydroartemisinin inhibits follicular helper T and B cells: implications for systemic lupus erythematosus treatment

Shi Xiaoyi,Liao Tao,Chen Ye,Chen Jingrong,Liu Yan,Zhao Jun,Dang Junlong,Sun Qipeng,Pan Yunfeng 대한약학회 2024 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.47 No.7

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common autoimmune disease, and its pathogenesis mainly involves the aberrant activation of B cells through follicular helper T (Tfh) cells to produce pathogenic antibodies, which requires more eff ective and safe treatment methods. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) is the main active ingredient of artemisinin and has immunosuppressive eff ects. In this study, in vitro experiments confi rmed that DHA inhibited Tfh cell induction and weakened its auxiliary function in B cell diff erentiation; furthermore, DHA directly inhibited B cell activation, diff erentiation, and antibody production. Furthermore, a mouse model of SLE was established, and we confi rmed that DHA signifi cantly reduced the symptoms of SLE and lupus nephritis, and decreased serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgM, IgA, and anti-dsDNA levels. Moreover, DHA reduced the frequencies of total Tfh cells, activated Tfh cells, and B cell lymphoma 6, and interleukin (IL)-21 levels in Tfh cells from the spleen and lymph nodes, as well as the levels of B cells, germinal center B cells, and plasma cells in the spleen, lymph nodes, and kidneys. Additionally, DHA inhibited Tfh cells by blocking IL-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK) signaling and its downstream nuclear factor (NF)-κB, nuclear factor of activated T cell, and activating protein-1 pathways, and directly inhibited B cells by blocking Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) signaling and the downstream NF-κB and Myc pathways. Overall, our results demonstrated that DHA inhibited Tfh cells by blocking ITK signaling and also directly inhibited B cells by blocking BTK signaling. Therefore, reducing the production of pathogenic antibodies might eff ectively treat SLE.