There is little evidence that adjuvant therapy after radical surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) improves recurrence-free survival (RFS) or overall survival (OS). We conducted a ...multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase IV trial evaluating the benefit of an aqueous extract of
Murr (Huaier granule) to address this unmet need.
A total of 1044 patients were randomised in 2:1 ratio to receive either Huaier or no further treatment (controls) for a maximum of 96 weeks. The primary endpoint was RFS. Secondary endpoints included OS and tumour extrahepatic recurrence rate (ERR). The Huaier (n=686) and control groups (n=316) had a mean RFS of 75.5 weeks and 68.5 weeks, respectively (HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.55 to 0.81). The difference in the RFS rate between Huaier and control groups was 62.39% and 49.05% (95% CI 6.74 to 19.94; p=0.0001); this led to an OS rate in the Huaier and control groups of 95.19% and 91.46%, respectively (95% CI 0.26 to 7.21; p=0.0207). The tumour ERR between Huaier and control groups was 8.60% and 13.61% (95% CI -12.59 to -2.50; p=0.0018), respectively.
This is the first nationwide multicentre study, involving 39 centres and 1044 patients, to prove the effectiveness of Huaier granule as adjuvant therapy for HCC after curative liver resection. It demonstrated a significant prolongation of RFS and reduced extrahepatic recurrence in Huaier group.
NCT01770431; Post-results.
A new metal–organic framework (MOF) with both coordination linkages and covalent linkages is prepared by coordinating CuI with pyrazolate for an aldehyde‐functionalized trinuclear complex, and ...subsequent imine condensation with p‐phenylenediamine, a reaction typical for covalent organic framework (COF) synthesis. This MOF×COF collaboration yields FDM‐71 with honeycomb layers stacked in eclipsed fashion. After dissociating the CuI‐pyrazolate coordination in FDM‐71, the obtained organic components carry the information of structural defects, and thus vacancy identity (aldehyde‐based unit vacancy and amine‐based unit vacancy) and concentration are definitely resolved. Further to the redox catalytic activity inherited from the complex, FDM‐71 features effective photosensitizing activity. The two functions integrated in one well‐defined structure is demonstrated by its high efficiency in decomposing H2O2 and consequent excitation of O2 to reactive oxygen species.
Constituting imine linkages between trinuclear CuI‐based complexes and diamine creates a metal–organic framework with honeycomb layers in eclipsed packing. Two kinds of structural vacancies are identified quantitatively by selective coordination dissociation. The structure could catalyze H2O2 decomposition and consequently excite O2 to reactive oxygen species.
Traditional oxide ceramics are inherently brittle and highly sensitive to defects, making them vulnerable to failure under external stress. As such, endowing these materials with high strength and ...high toughness simultaneously is crucial to improve their performance in most safety‐critical applications. Fibrillation of the ceramic materials and further refinement of the fiber diameter, as realized by electrospinning, are expected to achieve the transformation from brittleness to flexibility owing to the structural uniqueness. Currently, the synthesis of electrospun oxide ceramic nanofibers must rely on an organic polymer template to regulate the spinnability of the inorganic sol, whose thermal decomposition during ceramization will inevitably lead to pore defects, and seriously weaken the mechanical properties of the final nanofibers. Here, a self‐templated electrospinning strategy is proposed for the formation of oxide ceramic nanofibers without adding any organic polymer template. An example is given to show that individual silica nanofibers have an ideally homogeneous, dense, and defect‐free structure, with tensile strength as high as 1.41 GPa and toughness up to 34.29 MJ m−3, both of which are far superior to the counterparts prepared by polymer‐templated electrospinning. This work provides a new strategy to develop oxide ceramic materials that are strong and tough.
A self‐templated electrospinning strategy is proposed for the formation of oxide ceramic nanofibers, which exhibit high strength and high toughness simultaneously owing to their ideally homogeneous, dense, and defect‐free structure.
Single nanoparticle (NP) electrochemical measurements are widely described, both theoretically and experimentally, as they enable visualization of the electrochemical signal of a single NP that is ...masked in ensemble measurements. However, investigating the behavior of individual NPs using electrochemical signals remains a significant challenge. Here we report experiments and simulations demonstrating that multiple distinct motion trajectories could be discerned from time-resolved current traces by dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. We show that continuous monitoring and quantification of electrochemical oxidation of individual AgNPs using a low-noise electrochemical measurement platform produce significantly distinguished current traces due to the size-dependent motions of AgNPs. Our findings offer a view of the electrochemical signals of individual NPs that are largely different from that in the literature, and underscore the significance of motion behaviors in single NP electrochemistry.
Traditional ceramic materials are suboptimal for use in complex environments because of their brittleness and sensitivity to flaws. As such, developing flexible and elastic ceramic materials is ...extremely urgent in frontier domains where high‐frequency vibration or high‐intensity bending environments are inevitable. Fibrillation of ceramic materials is an effective way for the transition of brittleness to flexibility and elasticity, due to its ability to absorb and dissipate stresses through large axial deformations. Here, a comprehensive review of the newly emerging flexible and elastic ceramic fiber materials is presented, starting from an introduction to the fundamental concept, followed by an in‐depth analysis of the relationship between their microstructures and mechanical behaviors, laying emphasis on the toughening mechanism of both individual fibers and fiber assemblies. Finally, current challenges and future development are demonstrated. It is expected that this review may provide meaningful guidance for the advancement of ceramic fiber materials toward better performance and brighter prospects.
In contrast to brittle ceramic materials, the flexible and elastic ceramic fiber materials are widely used in various fields due to the unique mechanical properties. This review focuses on recent advances in these ceramic fiber materials, including the fundamental concept, the fiber structure design, the mechanical behavior and their relationship with the microstructure, and the toughening mechanism.
Ophiopogonis Radix (Maidong in Chinese), the root of Ophiopogon japonicus, is widely used in local medicines of China, Japan and some south-eastern Asian countries. According to the traditional ...Chinese medicine (TCM) principle, Ophiopogonis Radix nourishes the yin, promotes body fluid production, moistens the lung, eases the mind and clears away heart fire. This review summarizes the achievements of the investigations in botany, phytochemistry, quality control, traditional uses, pharmacological activities and clinical studies on O. japonicus; this review also describes the shortcomings of studies on this herbal drug and thus serves as the basis of further scientific research and development of this traditional herbal drug.
O. japonicus-related information was collected from various resources, including books on Chinese herbs and the Internet databases, such as Google Scholar, SciFinder, Web of Science, Elsevier, ACS, PubMed and China Knowledge Resource Integrated (CNKI).
O. japonicus is widely distributed in East Asia, especially in China. Numerous compounds were identified from this plant. The main components of O. japonicus include steroidal saponins, homoisoflavonoids and polysaccharides, which exhibited various pharmacological activities, such as cardiovascular protection, anti-inflammation, anticancer, anti-oxidation, immunomodulation, cough relief, antimicrobial, and anti-diabetes.
O. japonicus is a common traditional Chinese herbal drug used as the main ingredient in many prescriptions. Modern researches verified that O. japonicus can be used either as a healthy food or a therapeutic agent for disease prevention and treatment. The molecular mechanisms and chemical principles of this herbal medicine should be further explored.
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Aim
Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with a PD‐1 inhibitor and TACE combined with a PD‐1 inhibitor and lenvatinib have recently been reported as promising treatments to improve the ...prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. This study aims to compare the efficacy of these two treatments.
Methods
A retrospective study was conducted, and patients were recruited from two centers in China. Progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared, and the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were evaluated according to the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST). Treatment‐related adverse events (AEs) were analyzed to assess safety.
Results
The median follow‐up for the entire cohort was 11.4 months. Of the 103 patients included in this study, 56 received triple therapy, and 47 received doublet therapy. PFS was significantly higher in the triple therapy group than in the doublet therapy group (mPFS 22.5 vs. 14.0 months, P < 0.001). Similar results were obtained in terms of OS (P = 0.001). The ORR and DCR were also better in the triple therapy group (64.3% vs. 38.3%, P = 0.010; 85.7% vs. 57.4%, P = 0.002). The most common AEs in the triple therapy group were decreased albumin (55.3%), decreased platelet count (51.8%) and hypertension (44.6%).
Conclusions
The combination of TACE with a PD‐1 inhibitor and lenvatinib in patients with BCLC stage B HCC might result in significantly improved clinical outcomes with a manageable safety profile compared with TACE with a PD‐1 inhibitor.
Nanopore sensing is a powerful single-molecule method for DNA and protein sequencing. Recent studies have demonstrated that aerolysin exhibits a high sensitivity for single-molecule detection. ...However, the lack of the atomic resolution structure of aerolysin pore has hindered the understanding of its sensing capabilities. Herein, we integrate nanopore experimental results and molecular simulations based on a recent pore structural model to precisely map the sensing spots of this toxin for ssDNA translocation. Rationally probing ssDNA length and composition upon pore translocation provides new important insights for molecular determinants of the aerolysin nanopore. Computational and experimental results reveal two critical sensing spots (R220, K238) generating two constriction points along the pore lumen. Taking advantage of the sensing spots, all four nucleobases, cytosine methylation and oxidation of guanine can be clearly identified in a mixture sample. The results provide evidence for the potential of aerolysin as a nanosensor for DNA sequencing.
Despite the importance of glass forming ability as a major alloy characteristic, it is poorly understood and its quantification has been experimentally laborious and computationally challenging. ...Here, we uncover that the glass forming ability of an alloy is represented in its amorphous structure far away from equilibrium, which can be exposed by conventional X-ray diffraction. Specifically, we fabricated roughly 5,700 alloys from 12 alloy systems and characterized the full-width at half-maximum, Δq, of the first diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern. A strong correlation between high glass forming ability and a large Δq was found. This correlation indicates that a large dispersion of structural units comprising the amorphous structure is the universal indicator for high metallic glass formation. When paired with combinatorial synthesis, the correlation enhances throughput by up to 100 times compared to today's state-of-the-art combinatorial methods and will facilitate the discovery of bulk metallic glasses.
•Convolutional neural network is designed for probabilistic wind power forecasting.•Ensemble technique is used to cancel out the diverse errors of point forecasters.•The model misspecification and ...data noise in wind power are separately evaluated.•The competitive performance and robustness of the proposed method were proved.
Due to the economic and environmental benefits, wind power is becoming one of the more promising supplements for electric power generation. However, the uncertainty exhibited in wind power data is generally unacceptably large. Thus, the data should be accurately evaluated by operators to effectively mitigate the risks of wind power on power system operations. Recognizing this challenge, a novel deep learning based ensemble approach is proposed for probabilistic wind power forecasting. In this approach, an advanced point forecasting method is originally proposed based on wavelet transform and convolutional neural network. Wavelet transform is used to decompose the raw wind power data into different frequencies. The nonlinear features in each frequency that are used to improve the forecast accuracy are later effectively learned by the convolutional neural network. The uncertainties in wind power data, i.e., the model misspecification and data noise, are separately identified thereafter. Consequently, the probabilistic distribution of wind power data can be statistically formulated. The proposed ensemble approach has been extensively assessed using real wind farm data from China, and the results demonstrate that the uncertainties in wind power data can be better learned using the proposed approach and that a competitive performance is obtained.
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