Objective The tumor, node, and metastasis staging system of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has limitations in predicting prognosis. The aim of this study was to explore the prognostic value of tumor ...diameter for patients with NPC who were treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. Subjects and Methods The cases of 137 NPC patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy were retrospectively reviewed. Tumor diameter was measured on pretreatment magnetic resonance images. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to find the optimal cutoff value of tumor diameter and to examine the predictive ability of tumor diameter combined with T classification. Results The mean tumor diameter increased with the advancing of T classification. The 5-year cumulative survival rates for patients with a tumor diameter <43 mm vs ≥43 mm were 88.4% vs 61.8% ( P < .001), respectively. In multivariate analysis, tumor diameter was an independent prognostic factor for 5-year cumulative survival. For patients with T3 + T4, the 5-year cumulative survival rate was higher in the group with a tumor diameter <43 mm vs ≥43 mm (86.2% vs 60.2%, P = .022). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 70.3% for tumor diameter combined with T classification, superior to T classification (area under the curve = 66.2%). Conclusion Tumor diameter may be related to the extent of tumor invasion and can provide important information on prognosis. The incorporation of 43 mm as a cutoff value of tumor diameter may help to refine the predictive power of the current staging system for NPC.
In order to investigate the relationship between breaking stress and whiteness in a bleaching treatment with laccase, hair samples from three biogeographically distinct populations were characterized ...by various chemical and physical techniques. Factors affecting whiteness and breaking stress were investigated by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal that whiteness and breaking stress after bleaching are primarily influenced by the diversity of concentration of metal ions and functional groups in the hair. The hair samples with lower content of metal ions obtain better whiteness and higher stress retention. The presence of OH functional group increases the final whiteness of the hair sample, while lack of that not only decreases the whiteness but also leads to more stress loss. In addition, the presence of the C-C functional group also decreases the whiteness.
Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) are pluripotent stromal cells that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including skin cells. High-throughput sequencing was performed on ...cells of different ages and cell passage, obtaining their methylation, mRNA expression, and protein profile data. The stemness of each sample was then calculated using the TCGAbiolinks package in R. Co-expression modules were identified using WGCNA, and a crosstalk analysis was performed on the corresponding modules. The ClusterProfile package was used for the functional annotation of module genes. Finally, the regulatory network diagram was visualized using the Cytoscape software. First, a total of 16 modules were identified, where 3 modules were screened that were most relevant to the phenotype. 29 genes were screened in combination of the RNA seq, DNA methylation seq and protein iTRAQ. Finally, a comprehensive landscape comprised of RNA expression, DNA methylation and protein profiles of age relevant ADSCs was constructed. Overall, the different omics of ADSCs were comprehensively analyzed in order to reveal mechanisms pertaining to their growth and development. The effects of age, cell passage, and stemness on the therapeutic effect of ADSCs were explored. Additionally, a theoretical basis for selecting appropriate ADSC donors for regenerative medicine was provided.
A new 9-phenylfluorene functionalized 2,6-bis(N-carbazolyl)-pyridine compound 2,6-bis(3-(9-phenyl-fluoren- 9-yl)-carbazol-9-yl)pyridine (2,6-PFCzPy) with large steric hindrance and high triplet ...energy level has been successfully prepared by introducing 3-(9-phenyl-fluoren-9-yl)-carbazole unit into the 2,6-position of pyridine group via Ullmann reaction. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to study the electrochemical properties of the compound and obtain HOMO (−5.85 eV), LUMO (−2.09 eV), and energy gap (Eg, 3.57 eV). The 2,6-CzPy-based compound was employed as host to fabricate blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for the first time with the maximum EQEs of 6.2% at the doping concentration as high as 30%. The electroluminescent (EL) spectra show almost no changes along with the driving voltage ranging from 5.1 to 15.1 V at high doping concentration, which indicates the 2,6-CzPy-based three dimensional bulky compound could successfully suppress the excimer emission of the guest in high doping ratio.
The first 2,6-bis(N-carbazolyl)-pyridine-based compound with large steric hindrance was employed as host for blue TADF OLEDs with stable EL spectrum under different driving voltages at doping concentration as high as 30%. Display omitted
•The first 2,6-bis(N-carbazolyl)-pyridine-based compound with large steric hindrance was used as host for blue TADF OLEDs.•Stable blue EL spectra were achieved under different driving voltages at high doping concentration of 30%.•The enhanced thermal and morphological stability was achieved with high triplet energy level (T1, 2.83 eV) and controllable electrochemical properties.
With the wide applications of wireless sensor network (WSN), its reliability evaluation has been attracted more attention. The reliability of a WSN is affected mainly by internal and external ...factors, which include internal faults and external attacks. In this paper, a reliability evaluation method based on a hierarchical belief rule base (BRB) method is proposed for the reliability evaluation of the WSN. First, the factors affecting the reliability of a WSN are analysed, and the reliability evaluation process that considers the WSN fault evaluation and WSN security evaluation is described. Second, the reliability evaluation model is constructed based on the hierarchical BRB model. The qualitative knowledge is used by the BRB model to build initial belief rules, and the quantitative data are used to optimize the initial parameters of the BRB model, which can utilize various types of uncertainty information effectively. Therefore, the proposed method can be applied to the WSN reliability evaluation, which is a complex and uncertain problem. Finally, a simulation case study and an actual case study of wellhead blowout monitoring are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The reliability results of actual WSN are obtained by the standard testing method, where the loss and accuracy rates of the collected data are treated as the observation factors for obtaining the actual reliability values. The estimated results of hierarchical BRB model are very close to the actual reliability values, which shows that the proposed method can be used for evaluating the reliability of the actual WSN accurately.
•To solve the problem of WSN reliability evaluation, a new hierarchical Belief-Rule-Based (BRB) method is proposed.•The WSN reliability evaluation model is constructed based on the evaluation of WSN faults and WSN security.•The model can effectively use the semi-quantitative information to establish a nonlinear model.•The simulation and real case are implemented. The method can be effectively applied to WSN reliability evaluation.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in changes in lifestyle habits and experiences of mental health outcomes, some of which were possibly related to weight gain, leading to ...an increase in the prevalence of obesity, which is associated with the development of several severe diseases. Concerns regarding weight gain and its impact on health outcomes are prevalent worldwide, with obesity being one of the highest causes of mortality in current society.
A self-reported questionnaire collected data from participants aged 18 years of age and above from 26 countries and regions worldwide. Post-hoc multiple logistic regression analyses have been done to evaluate the association between demographic and socioeconomic factors, and the perspectives that were identified to be associated with weight gain.
Participants belonging to a younger age group; with a higher level of education; living in an urban area; living with family members; employed full-time; and had obesity were found to be more vulnerable to weight gain. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, participants who were quarantined; exercised less prior to the pandemic; consumed unhealthy foods; and reported negative thoughts such as helplessness and the perceived risk of COVID-19, were more likely to experience weight gain; while negative thoughts such as having no means of control over the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will have great personal effect were associated with females, students, and people living in the rural area.
Weight gain risk during the pandemic was significantly associated with certain socio-demographic and COVID-19 related factors. To improve public health outcomes, future research should conduct a longitudinal evaluation on the effects of COVID-19 experiences upon health choices. Streamlined mental support should also be provided to the vulnerable groups which were prone to negative thoughts that were associated with weight gain.
Human muscarinic receptor M4 belongs to the class A subfamily of the G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). M4 has emerged as an attractive drug target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and ...schizophrenia. Recent results showed that M4-mediated cholinergic transmission is related to motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. Selective ligand design for the five muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAchR) subtypes currently remains challenging owing to the high sequence and structural similarity of their orthosteric binding pockets. In order to obtain M4-selective antagonists, a new approach was tried to lock M4 into an inactive form by rationally designing an N449
R mutation, which mimics the allosteric sodium binding in the conserved sodium site usually found in class A GPCRs. In addition, the crystal structure of the mutation-induced inactive M4 was determined. By comparative analysis with other mAchR structures, followed by functional assays, the N449
R mutation was shown to stabilize M4 into an inactive state. Virtual screening of a focused ligand library using the crystal structure showed that the inactive M4 prefers antagonists much more than agonists. This study provides a powerful mutation strategy to stabilize GPCRs in inactive states and facilitate their structure determination.
Retinoblastoma (RB), a carcinoma of the retina, is caused by mutations in the long arm of chromosome 13, band 13q14. The esterase D (ESD) gene maps at a similar location as the RB gene locus and ...therefore serves as a potential marker for the prognosis of retinoblastoma. Because very little is known about the structure and function of ESD, we determined the 3-dimensional structure of the enzyme at 1.5 Å resolution using X-ray crystallography. ESD shows a single domain with an α/β-hydrolase fold. A number of insertions are observed in the canonical α/β-hydrolase fold. The active site is located in a positively charged, shallow cleft on the surface lined by a number of aromatic residues. Superimposition studies helped identify the typical catalytic triad residues--Ser-153, His264, and Asp230--involved in catalysis. Mutagenesis of any of the catalytic triad residues to alanine abolished the enzyme activity. Backbone amides of Leu54 and Met150 are involved in the formation of the oxyanion hole. Interestingly, a M150A mutation increased the enzyme activity by 62%. The structure of human ESD determined in this study will aid the elucidation of the physiological role of the enzyme in the human body and will assist in the early diagnosis of retinoblastoma. Wu, D., Li, Y., Song, G., Zhang, D., Shaw, N., Liu, Z. J. Crystal structure of human esterase D: a potential genetic marker of retinoblastoma.
Since the absence of standard multiline treatment in advanced NSCLC, we hypothesized a benefit from rechallenge with pemetrexed alone or combination regimens. ...the AVAPERL trial (MO22089)4 ...confirmed the survival benefits of Bev-containing pemetrexed maintenance treatment after first-line Bev-containing pemetrexed-cisplatin treatment in NSCLC patients. Consistent with these results, our study demonstrated that pemetrexed maintenance is a significant beneficial prognostic factor for rechallenge OS (HR, 5.553; 95% CI, 1.266–24.361; P = 0.023). ...pemetrexed rechallenge and maintenance is an effective strategy in lung adenocarcinoma patients who received first-line pemetrexed platinum induction chemotherapy. ...our results revealed that an effective and well-tolerated strategy with rechallenge pemetrexed-based chemotherapy might be a palliative option for advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients who had shown beneficial response to previous pemetrexed platinum regimens. ...patients with a PFS1 ≥10 months, TFS ≥15 months, ≤3rd line, and rechallenge maintenance may be selected as benefit subgroups for pemetrexed rechallenge.
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