Publications by authors named "Liqiao Li"

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) fundamentally differ from tobacco cigarettes in their generation of liquid-based aerosols. Investigating how e-cig aerosols behave when inhaled into the dynamic environment of the lung is important for understanding vaping-related exposure and toxicity. A ventilated artificial lung model was developed to replicate the ventilatory and environmental features of the human lung and study their impact on the characteristics of inhaled e-cig aerosols from simulated vaping scenarios.

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Traditional in vitro and in vivo models for inhalation toxicology studies often fail to replicate the anatomical and physiological conditions of the human lung. This limitation hinders our understanding of intrapulmonary exposures and their related health effects. To address this gap, we developed a ventilated artificial lung system that replicates human inhalation exposures in four key aspects: (1) facilitating continuous breathing with adjustable respiratory parameters; (2) distributing inhaled aerosols through transitional airflow fields in 3D-printed airway structures, which enables size-dependent particle deposition; (3) duplicating the warm and humid lung environment to promote inhaled aerosol dynamics, such as hygroscopic growth; and (4) supporting the cultivation of human airway epithelium for aerosol exposure and toxicological analyses.

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  • The study investigates how brief electronic cigarette (EC) exposures affect heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) in mice, focusing on the impact of timing and frequency of these exposures.
  • EC exposure led to noticeable changes in HR and HRV, including bradycardia and increased time domain parameters during exposure, with varying effects observed across the three weeks of the experiment.
  • Additionally, the study found that ECs caused prooxidative effects in the lungs, indicating potential harm beyond just heart rate changes.
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  • A study examined the relationship between chronic urticaria (CU) and metabolic syndrome, highlighting that significant metabolic differences exist between CU patients and healthy individuals.
  • Researchers identified potential new biomarkers, such as N-acetyl-l-lysine, l-aspartate, maleic acid, and pyruvic acid, which could aid in diagnosing CU with high accuracy.
  • The research showed that lower levels of pyruvic acid and maleic acid are linked to increased disease activity and poor response to treatment, suggesting these metabolites could help predict CU severity and treatment outcomes.
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have become increasingly popular, especially among youth, raising concerns about their potential health risks. JUUL and Tank devices are two common types of e-cigs that deliver aerosols with varying nicotine levels and flavors. However, the differences in the aerosols generated from different devices and their corresponding cytotoxicity and pulmonary injury effects remain poorly understood.

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The increasing number and severity of wildfires is negatively impacting air quality for millions of California residents each year. Community exposure to PM in two main population centers (San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles County area) was assessed using the low-cost PurpleAir sensor network for the record-setting 2020 California wildfire season. Estimated PM concentrations in each study area were compared to census tract-level environmental justice vulnerability indicators, including environmental, health, and demographic data.

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  • Chronic urticaria (CU) is a skin disease driven by mast cells, and researchers studied the lipid profiles of CU patients compared to healthy individuals to understand its underlying mechanisms.
  • Significant changes in glycerophospholipids, particularly increased phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), along with a decrease in phosphatidylcholine (PC), were observed in CU patients, with specific lipid levels correlating with urticaria severity and quality of life.
  • The study identified different CU subtypes based on lipid profiles and suggested that supplementation with PC could help reduce immune responses in mast cells, offering new insights into potential treatments for CU.
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  • Antihistamines, particularly H1 antihistamines, are commonly used to treat allergies like urticaria and allergic rhinitis by counteracting histamine effects.
  • Some patients may experience side effects, including heart issues and other central nervous system effects, and there's variability in how different individuals respond to these medications.
  • Recent advances in pharmacogenomics reveal that genetic differences can influence antihistamine effectiveness and susceptibility to conditions like urticaria, suggesting the importance of personalized medicine in treatment.
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Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease, but treatment of this disease has been challenging. Dupilumab is a new biological agent for AD that has been proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials. Although dupilumab was approved for listing in China in June 2020, real-world data about the application of dupilumab in China are lacking.

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  • The past decade has seen a surge in electronic cigarette use, raising concerns about the health effects of secondhand exposure to e-cig particles.
  • This study utilized a portable device called c-Air, enhanced by deep learning and holographic microscopy, to measure the volatility of exhaled e-cig aerosols in a vape shop over four days.
  • Findings indicated that indoor vaping significantly increased the presence of volatile and semi-volatile particles in the air, suggesting a need for more research on the health impacts of these emissions.
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  • The study addresses the health risks associated with volatile aerosols, particularly those generated by electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), and introduces a new method for measuring the volatility of particulate matter (PM) using computational microscopy and deep learning.
  • The research involves analyzing aerosols created from various e-liquid compositions, revealing that a higher vegetable glycerin (VG) ratio negatively impacts particle volatility, and nicotine influences evaporation dynamics significantly.
  • The findings suggest that flavoring agents in e-liquids also lower aerosol volatility, and the new measurement technique could enhance understanding of volatile particles in e-cigs and other sources of particulate matter.
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  • A study was conducted on a year-old Glycyrrhiza glabra stalk to analyze its mechanical properties using an electronic universal testing machine for shearing and bending tests.
  • The research identified different phases in the shearing (elastic, yield, plastic deformation) and bending (elastic and plastic deformation) processes, noting that increasing diameter leads to higher shearing and bending forces and energies.
  • Microscopic analysis revealed the stalk's structure, with phloem, fiber, and pith playing crucial roles, and found a significant correlation between the stalk's cross-sectional area and its mechanical properties, which could aid in the design of agricultural equipment.
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  • The study assessed particulate pollution and nicotine levels in six vape shops and their neighboring businesses in Southern California from February 2017 to October 2019.
  • Vape shops showed significantly higher levels of particle number concentration (PNC) and particulate matter (PM) compared to nearby businesses and outdoor areas, with a strong correlation between the air quality in the vape shops and their neighbors, especially when doors were closed.
  • Nicotine was detected in both environments, and the study found that factors like vaping density and air exchange rates influenced pollutant levels, highlighting concerns about the impact of e-cig usage on local air quality.
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Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has been linked to recent acute lung injury case clusters in over 2000 patients and dozens of deaths in the United States, however, the mechanism leading to lung injury is not certain although ultrafine particles, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and other harmful ingredients have been implicated. To systematically evaluate e-cigarette toxicity, we generated e-cigarette aerosols by varying the puff numbers (20-480), nicotine contents (0-24 mg/mL), and collected e-cigarette samples through an impinger system for biological assays. The calculated samples' concentration ranged from 1.

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  • The study focused on how the composition of e-liquids, specifically the propylene glycol (PG) to vegetable glycerin (VG) ratio and nicotine content, affects the aerosol emissions from electronic cigarettes (e-cigs).* -
  • Ten different flavorless e-liquid mixtures were tested in a controlled chamber to measure particle concentration and size during and after puffing, revealing that nicotine significantly reduced particle emissions and that higher PG content also led to lower particulate matter.* -
  • The findings suggest that e-liquid formulation can influence the exposure levels of e-cig aerosols, with nicotine and PG being key factors in determining how quickly particles dissipate in the environment.*
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With the rapid increase in electronic cigarette (e-cig) users worldwide, secondhand exposure to e-cig aerosols has become a serious public health concern. We summarize the evidence on the effects of e-cigs on indoor air quality, chemical compositions of mainstream and secondhand e-cig aerosols, and associated respiratory and cardiovascular effects. The use of e-cigs in indoor environments leads to high levels of fine and ultrafine particles similar to tobacco cigarettes (t-cigs).

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  • * Adding EDTA to the catholyte significantly increased Pb mobility, with removal efficiency rising from 47.8% to 61.5% as the concentration of EDTA increased, while the combination of EDTA and acetic acid boosted the Pb migration rate to 72.3%.
  • * The "approaching anode" method, when using both EDTA and acetic acid, achieved the highest Pb removal efficiency at an average of 83.8%, indicating that this approach is highly
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