Abstract
During the continuous charge and discharge process in lithium-sulfur batteries, one of the next-generation batteries, polysulfides are generated in the battery’s electrolyte, and impact its ...performance in terms of power and capacity by involving the process. The amount of polysulfides in the electrolyte could be estimated by the change of the Gibbs free energy of the electrolyte,
$$\Delta _{mix}\textrm{G}$$
Δ
mix
G
in the presence of polysulfide. However, obtaining
$$\Delta _{mix}\textrm{G}$$
Δ
mix
G
of the diverse mixtures of components in the electrolyte is a complex and expensive task that shows itself as a bottleneck in optimization of electrolytes. In this work, we present a machine-learning approach for predicting
$$\Delta _{mix}\textrm{G}$$
Δ
mix
G
of electrolytes. The proposed architecture utilizes (1) an attention-based model (Attentive FP), a contrastive learning model (MolCLR) or morgan fingerprints to represent chemical components, and (2) transformers to account for the interactions between chemicals in the electrolyte. This architecture was not only capable of predicting electrolyte properties, including those of chemicals not used during training, but also providing insights into chemical interactions within electrolytes. It revealed that interactions with other chemicals relate to the logP and molecular weight of the chemicals.
Summary Background Compared with open resection, laparoscopic resection of rectal cancers is associated with improved short-term outcomes, but high-level evidence showing similar long-term outcomes ...is scarce. We aimed to compare survival outcomes of laparoscopic surgery with open surgery for patients with mid-rectal or low-rectal cancer. Methods The Comparison of Open versus laparoscopic surgery for mid or low REctal cancer After Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (COREAN) trial was an open-label, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial done between April 4, 2006, and Aug 26, 2009, at three centres in Korea. Patients (aged 18–80 years) with cT3N0–2M0 mid-rectal or low-rectal cancer who had received preoperative chemoradiotherapy were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either open or laparoscopic surgery. Randomisation was stratified by sex and preoperative chemotherapy regimen. Investigators were masked to the randomisation sequence; patients and clinicians were not masked to the treatment assignments. The primary endpoint was 3 year disease-free survival, with a non-inferiority margin of 15%. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00470951. Findings We randomly assigned 340 patients to receive either open surgery (n=170) or laparoscopic surgery (n=170). 3 year disease-free survival was 72·5% (95% CI 65·0–78·6) for the open surgery group and 79·2% (72·3–84·6) for the laparoscopic surgery group, with a difference that was lower than the prespecified non-inferiority margin (–6·7%, 95% CI −15·8 to 2·4; p<0·0001). 25 (15%) patients died in the open group and 20 (12%) died in the laparoscopic group. No deaths were treatment related. Interpretation Our results show that laparoscopic resection for locally advanced rectal cancer after preoperative chemoradiotherapy provides similar outcomes for disease-free survival as open resection, thus justifying its use. Funding National Cancer Center, South Korea.
Despite two decades of commercial history, it remains very difficult to simultaneously achieve both high rate capability and thermal stability in the graphite anodes of Li-ion batteries because the ...stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer, which is essential for thermal stability, impedes facile Li+ ion transport at the interface. Here, we resolve this longstanding challenge using a mussel-inspired polydopamine (PD) coating via a simple immersion process. The nanometer-thick PD coating layer allows the formation of an SEI layer on the coating surface without perturbing the intrinsic properties of the SEI layer of the graphite anodes. PD-coated graphite exhibits far better performances in cycling test at 60 °C and storage test at 90 °C than bare graphite. The PD-coated graphite also displays superior rate capability during both lithiation and delithiation. As evidenced by surface free energy analysis, the enhanced performance of the PD-coated graphite can be ascribed to the Lewis basicity of the PD, which scavenges harmful hydrofluoric acid and forms an intermediate triple-body complex among a Li+ ion, solvent molecules, and the PD’s basic site. The usefulness of the proposed PD coating can be expanded to various electrodes in rechargeable batteries that suffer from poor thermal stability and interfacial kinetics.
Summary Background The safety and short-term efficacy of laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer after preoperative chemoradiotherapy has not been demonstrated. The aim of the randomised Comparison of ...Open versus laparoscopic surgery for mid and low REctal cancer After Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (COREAN) trial was to compare open surgery with laparoscopic surgery for mid or low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Methods Between April 4, 2006, and Aug 26, 2009, patients with cT3N0–2 mid or low rectal cancer without distant metastasis after preoperative chemoradiotherapy were enrolled at three tertiary-referral hospitals. Patients were randomised 1:1 to receive either open surgery (n=170) or laparoscopic surgery (n=170), stratified according to sex and preoperative chemotherapy regimen. Short-term outcomes assessed were involvement of the circumferential resection margin, macroscopic quality of the total mesorectal excision specimen, number of harvested lymph nodes, recovery of bowel function, perioperative morbidity, postoperative pain, and quality of life. Analyses were based on the intention-to-treat population. Patients continue to be followed up for the primary outcome (3-year disease-free survival). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00470951. Findings Two patients (1·2%) in the laparoscopic group were converted to open surgery, but were included in the laparoscopic group for analyses. Estimated blood loss was less in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (median 217·5 mL 150·0–400·0 in the open group vs 200·0 mL 100·0–300·0 in the laparoscopic group, p=0·006), although surgery time was longer in the laparoscopic group (mean 244·9 min SD 75·4 vs 197·0 min 62·9, p<0·0001). Involvement of the circumferential resection margin, macroscopic quality of the total mesorectal excision specimen, number of harvested lymph nodes, and perioperative morbidity did not differ between the two groups. The laparoscopic surgery group showed earlier recovery of bowel function than the open surgery group (time to pass first flatus, median 38·5 h 23·0–53·0 vs 60·0 h 43·0–73·0, p<0·0001; time to resume a normal diet, 85·0 h 66·0–95·0 vs 93·0 h 86·0–121·0, p<0·0001; time to first defecation, 96·5 h 70·0–125·0 vs 123 h 94·0–156·0, p<0·0001). The total amount of morphine used was less in the laparoscopic group than in the open group (median 107·2 mg 80·0–150·0 vs 156·9 mg 117·0–185·2, p<0·0001). 3 months after proctectomy or ileostomy takedown, the laparoscopic group showed better physical functioning score than the open group (0·501 n=122 vs −4·970 n=128, p=0·0073), less fatigue (−5·659 n=122 vs 0·098 n=129, p=0·0206), and fewer micturition (−2·583 n=122 vs 4·725 n=129, p=0·0002), gastrointestinal (−0·400 n=122 vs 4·331 n=129, p=0·0102), and defecation problems (0·535 n=103 vs 5·327 n=99, p=0·0184) in repeated measures analysis of covariance, adjusted for baseline values. Interpretation Laparoscopic surgery after preoperative chemoradiotherapy for mid or low rectal cancer is safe and has short-term benefits compared with open surgery; the quality of oncological resection was equivalent. Funding The National Cancer Center, South Korea.
Al–Si–Mg cast alloys can be imparted with a wide range of mechanical properties through heat treatment, thus meeting the required performance of various vehicle components. However, because of the ...characteristics of the high-pressure die casting process, the gas porosities in the casting can lead to blisters during the solution treatment of die-casting parts. Therefore, systematic studies on the solution temperature and solution time are required to prevent such blisters. In this study, the gas porosity and mechanical properties of T6 heat-treated specimens were evaluated under various solution treatment conditions. As the solution treatment temperature and time increased, the numbers and volume of individual gas porosity increased. On the other hand, there were little changes in the shrinkages upon heat treatment. As solution temperature and time increased, the area fraction of the eutectic Si particles and Mg2Si decreased slightly, whereas the area and sphericity of the eutectic Si and Mg2Si increased. As the solution treatment temperature and time increased, the ultimate tensile strength and yield strength increased, whereas the elongation tended to decrease. However, the maximum UTS and YS were obtained on treatment at 520 °C for 1.5 h.
•Vacuum die casting of Al–Si–Mg alloy under solution treatment conditions.•Separation of gas porosities and shrinkage and their quantitative measurement.•Mechanical property comparison between T6 heat-treated and as-cast specimens.
Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also known as nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by multisystemic developmental defects caused by
(
) gene variants and/or ...SUFU gene variants. The presence of either two main criteria or one major and two minor criteria are required for the diagnosis of Gorlin-Goltz syndrome. Recently, a major criterion for molecular confirmation has also been proposed. In this article, we report the case of an 80-year-old male who was admitted at our department for multiple brown-to-black papules and plaques on the entire body. He was diagnosed with Gorlin-Goltz syndrome with clinical, radiologic, and pathologic findings. While the diagnosis was made based on the clinical findings in general, confirmation of the genetic variants makes an ideal diagnosis and suggests a new treatment method for target therapy. We requested a genetic test of PTCH1 to ideally identify the molecular confirmation in the hedgehog signaling pathway. However, no pathogenic variants were found in the coding region of PTCH1, and no molecular confirmation was achieved.
To identify pretreatment clinical parameters that could predict pathologic tumor response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for rectal cancer.
The study involved 351 patients who underwent ...preoperative CRT followed by surgery between October 2001 and July 2006. Tumor responses to preoperative CRT were assessed in terms of tumor downstaging and tumor regression. Statistical analyses were performed to identify clinical factors associated with pathologic tumor response.
Tumor downstaging (defined as ypT2 or less) was observed in 167 patients (47.6%), whereas tumor regression (defined as Dworak's Regression Grades 3 or 4) was observed in 103 patients (29.3%) and complete regression in 51 patients (14.5%). Multivariate analysis found that predictors of downstaging were pretreatment hemoglobin level (p = 0.045), cN0 classification (p < 0.001), and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level (p < 0.001), that predictors of tumor regression were cN0 classification (p = 0.044) and CEA level (p < 0.001), and that the predictor of complete regression was CEA level (p = 0.004).
The data suggest that pretreatment CEA level is the most important clinical predictor of pathologic tumor response. It may be of benefit in the selection of treatment options as well as the assessment of individual prognosis.
Purpose
This study aims to report complications, treatments, and visual prognosis of choroidal osteoma.
Methods
We retrospectively reviewed electronic medical records and multimodal images of 41 ...patients with choroidal osteoma.
Results
Visually significant complications included choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in 21 (47.7%) eyes and subretinal fluid (SRF) without CNV in 14 (31.8%) eyes. The most common treatment was intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection: 13 (61.9%) eyes with CNV received an average of 6.3 injections, and 6 (42.9%) eyes with SRF but without CNV received 1.8 injections. As the first-line treatment, intravitreal anti-VEGF injection induced complete or partial remission in 93.4% of eyes with CNV and 57.1% of eyes with SRF. The probability of legally low vision estimated at 3 and at 5 years was 29.1% and 34.2%, respectively. The presence of CNV and outer retinal tubulation (ORT) was independent risk factors for vision loss (adjusted odds ratio, 8.08 and 6.94, respectively).
Conclusions
The development of CNV and ORT was strong risk factors for visual impairment. Due to the frequent recurrence of complications and poor visual prognosis, regular check-ups and appropriate treatment choices are warranted.
We retrospectively evaluated the effects of clinical and pathologic factors on disease-free survival (DFS) with the aim of identifying the most discriminating factor predicting DFS in rectal cancer ...patients treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and curative resection.
The study involved 420 patients who underwent preoperative CRT and curative resection between August 2001 and October 2006. Gender, age, distance from the anal verge, histologic type, histologic grade, pretreatment carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level, cT, cN, cStage, circumferential resection margin, type of surgery, preoperative chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, ypT, ypN, ypStage, and tumor regression grade (TRG) were analyzed to identify prognostic factors associated with DFS. To compare the discriminatory prognostic ability of four tumor response-related pathologic factors (ypT, ypN, ypStage, and TRG), the Akaike information criteria were calculated.
The 5-year DFS rate was 75.4%. On univariate analysis, distance from the anal verge, histologic type, histologic grade, pretreatment CEA level, cT, circumferential resection margin, type of surgery, preoperative chemotherapeutic regimen, ypT, ypN, ypStage, and TRG were significantly associated with DFS. Multivariate analysis showed that the four parameters ypT, ypN, ypStage, and TRG were, consistently, significant prognostic factors for DFS. The ypN showed the lowest Akaike information criteria value for DFS, followed by ypStage, ypT, and TRG, in that order.
In our study, ypT, ypN, ypStage, and TRG were important prognostic factors for DFS, and ypN was the most discriminating factor.
Vinylene carbonate (VC) has been the best performing solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) additive for the current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, it is also true that the current LIB technology ...is being stagnated by the limit set by VC. This study introduces 3-fluoro-1,3-propane sultone (FPS) as a novel SEI additive to replace VC and another popular SEI additive, 1,3-propane sultone (PS). Both density functional calculations and electrochemical experiments confirm that the presence of an electron withdrawing fluorine group is favourable in terms of anodic stability and SEI forming ability. In the cyclability of LiCoO sub(2)/graphite cells over a wide temperature range (25-60 degree C), FPS exhibits remarkable enhancement compared with PS, and is even superior to VC. During elevated temperature (90 degree C) storage of the cells, VC suffers from severe swelling, whereas FPS causes little thermal degradation. Considering the high anodic stability, the excellent cyclability, and the good thermal stability, FPS is an outstanding SEI additive that can expand the performance boundary of the current LIBs.
