Radiotherapy is an important treatment for glioblastoma (GBM), but there is no consensus on the target delineation for GBM radiotherapy. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and European ...Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) each have their own rules. Our center adopted a target volume delineation plan based on our previous studies. This study focuses on the recurrence pattern of GBM patients whose target delineations did not intentionally include the T2/fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintensity area outside of the gross tumor volume (GTV). We prospectively collected 162 GBM cases and retrospectively analysed the clinical data and continuous dynamic magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 55 patients with recurrent GBM. All patients received concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ). The GTV that we defined includes the postoperative T1-weighted MRI enhancement area and resection cavity. Clinical target volume 1 (CTV1) and CTV2 were defined as GTVs with 1 and 2 cm margins, respectively. Planning target volume 1 (PTV1) and PTV2 were defined as CTV1 and CTV2 plus a 3 mm margin with prescribed doses of 60 and 54 Gy, respectively. The first recurrent contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRI was introduced into the Varian Eclipse radiotherapy planning system and fused with the original planning computed tomography (CT) images to determine the recurrence pattern. The median follow-up time was 15.8 months. The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 17.7 and 7.0 months, respectively. Among the patients, 44 had central recurrences, two had in-field recurrences, one had marginal recurrence occurred, 11 had distant recurrences, and three had subependymal recurrences. Five patients had multiple recurrence patterns. Compared to the EORTC protocol, target delineation that excludes the adjacent T2/FLAIR hyperintensity area reduces the brain volume exposed to high-dose radiation (P = 0.000) without an increased risk of marginal recurrence. Therefore, it is worthwhile to conduct a clinical trial investigating the feasibility of intentionally not including the T2/FLAIR hyperintensity region outside of the GTV.
A three-dimensional orthogonal woven C/C-SiC composite was successfully prepared by high-solid-loading slurry impregnation combined with precursor infiltration and pyrolysis. The microstructure, ...mechanical properties and ablation behavior of the C/C-SiC composite were investigated. The slurry impregnation and the precursor infiltration and pyrolysis acted as fast filling and supplementary densification, respectively. Based on a three-dimensional orthogonal woven C/C preform, the C/C-SiC composite had excellent mechanical properties with bending strength and fracture toughness of 364.46 and 22.86 MPa·m
1/2
. The mass and linear ablation rates of the C/C-SiC composite were 3.21 mg/s and 4.93 μm/s, respectively, after ablation under an oxyacetylene flame for 300 s. The good ablation performance was attributed to the passive oxidation of SiC at high temperature and high oxygen partial pressure, and the pitting caused by SiO
2
accelerated the failure of carbon fibers.
Novel biomarkers for pancreatic adenocarcinoma are urgently needed because of its poor prognosis. Here, by using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) RNA-seq data, we evaluated the prognostic values of the ...differentially expressed miRNAs and constructed a five-miRNA signature that could effectively predict patient overall survival (OS). The Kaplan-Meier overall survival curves of two groups based on the five miRNAs were notably different, showing overall survival in 10.2% and 47.8% at five years for patients in high-risk and low-risk groups, respectively. The ROC curve analysis achieved AUC of 0.775, showing good sensitivity and specificity of the five-miRNA signature model in predicting pancreatic adenocarcinoma patient survival risk. The functional enrichment analysis suggested that the target genes of the miRNA signature may be involved in various pathways related to cancer, including PI3K-Akt, TGF-β, and pluripotent stem cell signaling pathways. Finally, we analyzed expression of the five specific miRNAs in the miRNA signature, and validated the reliability of the results in 20 newly diagnosed pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients using qRT-PCR. The expression results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the TCGA results. Taken together, these findings suggested that the five-miRNA signature (hsa-miR-203, hsa-miR-424, hsa-miR-1266 hsa-miR-1293, and hsa-miR-4772) could be used as a prognostic marker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Oxygen catalysis reactions play essential roles in metal-air batteries, fuel cells, water electrolysis and artificial photosynthesis, with their development receiving significant attention in recent ...years. Understanding the structure–activity relationship plays an important role in the construction and performance optimization of reversible oxygen catalyst. In this work, a facile method is applied to synthesize Ni-Fe dual-metal single-atom/nanoparticle combined with N-doped carbon (Ni-Fe SA/N-C and Ni-Fe NP/N-C). For oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), Ni-Fe SA/N-C shows excellent activity, and the initial potential and half-wave potential are 0.96 and 0.90 V, respectively, which are higher than those of commercial Pt/C; for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a low overpotential of 330 mV at 10 mA·cm
−2
is obtained for Ni-Fe NP/N-C, prominently better than that of commercial RuO
2
/C. Through the in-depth study of the existing forms of Ni/Fe, the difference between ORR and OER activities of Ni-Fe SA/N-C and Ni-Fe NP/N-C is clarified, and the structure–activity relationship is revealed.
Graphical abstract
Lithium-carbon dioxide (Li-CO
) battery technology presents a promising opportunity for carbon capture and energy storage. Despite tremendous efforts in Li-CO
batteries, the complex ...electrode/electrolyte/CO
triple-phase interfacial processes remain poorly understood, in particular at the nanoscale. Here, using in situ atomic force microscopy and laser confocal microscopy-differential interference contrast microscopy, we directly observed the CO
conversion processes in Li-CO
batteries at the nanoscale, and further revealed a laser-tuned reaction pathway based on the real-time observations. During discharge, a bi-component composite, Li
CO
/C, deposits as micron-sized clusters through a 3D progressive growth model, followed by a 3D decomposition pathway during the subsequent recharge. When the cell operates under laser (λ=405 nm) irradiation, densely packed Li
CO
/C flakes deposit rapidly during discharge. Upon the recharge, they predominantly decompose at the interfaces of the flake and electrode, detaching themselves from the electrode and causing irreversible capacity degradation. In situ Raman shows that the laser promotes the formation of poorly soluble intermediates, Li
C
O
, which in turn affects growth/decomposition pathways of Li
CO
/C and the cell performance. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into interfacial evolution in Li-CO
batteries and the laser-tuned CO
conversion reactions, which can inspire strategies of monitoring and controlling the multistep and multiphase interfacial reactions in advanced electrochemical devices.
Sequential convex programming method is one of the potential approaches to make trajectory generation onboard. However, the contradiction between the solution accuracy and the computational ...efficiency restricts its application. To overcome the difficulty, a novel sequential convex programming method based on customized adaptive mesh refinement is proposed in this paper. The main contribution includes two aspects. Firstly, a customized adaptive mesh refinement method is developed. The mesh points are adjusted adaptively based on the linearization error after each iteration, and thus the number of mesh points is changed. Secondly, an unconventional convergence condition is proposed, which can make the sequential convex programming method converges to a feasible solution of the original problem with fewer iterations. Taking the entry trajectory planning problem as an example, the simulation results show that the proposed method can decrease the number of mesh points while ensuring the feasibility of converged solution. Due to the fewer iterations, the computational time to solve the original problem is decreased. As a result, a good balance between solution accuracy and computational efficiency is achieved.
Copper is a trace element necessary for the normal functioning of organisms, but excessive copper contents may be toxic to the heart. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of excessive ...copper accumulation in mitochondrial damage and cell apoptosis inhibition. In vivo, the heart copper concentration and cardiac troponin I (c-TnI) and N-terminal forebrain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) levels increased in the copper-laden model group compared to those of the control group. Histopathological and ultrastructural observations revealed that the myocardial collagen volume fraction (CVF), perivascular collagen area (PVCA) and cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area (CSA) were markedly elevated in the copper-laden model group compared with the control group. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the mitochondrial double-layer membrane was incomplete in the copper-laden model groups. Furthermore, cytochrome C (Cyt-C) expression was downregulated in mitochondria but upregulated in the cytoplasm in response to copper accumulation. In addition, Bcl-2 expression decreased, while Bax and cleaved caspase-3 levels increased. These results indicate that copper accumulation in cardiomyocyte mitochondria induces mitochondrial injury, and Cyt-C exposure and induces apoptosis, further resulting in heart damage.
•Prolonged excessive copper intake may induced apoptosis through disturbed mitochondrial energy metabolism.
Biochar is widely used for the adsorptive removal of Cd from water and soil, but the Cd-enriched biochar produced carries a risk of secondary pollution. In this work, biochar derived from rice straw ...was used to adsorb Cd from plating wastewater. The Cd-enriched biochar showed a saturated adsorption capacity of about 63.5 mg/g and could be recycled and used in a mesoporous carbon-supported CdS (CdS@C) photocatalyst after pyrolysis carbonization and a hydrothermal reaction. The results demonstrated that the as-prepared CdS@C photocatalyst contained mixed cubic and hexagonal CdS phases, with a considerably lower band gap (2.1 eV) than pure CdS (2.6 eV). CdS@C exhibited an enhanced photocatalytic performance for the degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation compared with pure CdS due to its excellent light-harvesting capacity and efficient electron-hole separation. Moreover, the continuous formation of active species (h
, •OH, and O
•
) was responsible for the photodegradation of organic dyes using CdS@C. This work provides new insights for the safe disposal of Cd-enriched wastewater and for improving the economic viability of Cd-contaminated resources by recovering a value-added photocatalyst.
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In the present work, we designed and synthesized a cationic cyano-substituted p-phenylenevinylene derivative (PPTA), which can form supramolecular assemblies through electrostatic ...interaction with a type of polyelectrolyte material anionic guar gum (GP5A). A polyelectrolyte-based artificial light-harvesting system (LHS) was constructed by selecting a fluorescent dye sulforhodamine 101 (SR101) that matched its energy level as an energy acceptor. The energy harvested by the acceptors was used in the aqueous phase cross dehydrogenation coupling (CDC) reaction with a yield of up to 87%. In addition, the general applicability of polyelectrolyte materials to build artificial LHS was demonstrated by three other polyelectrolyte materials sodium polyphenylene sulfonate (RSS), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and sodium polyacrylate (PAAS), in which the CDC reaction was also carried out by these three LHSs and obtained high yields. This work not only provides a new method to construct LHSs by using polyelectrolyte materials, but also provides a beneficial exploration for further applying the energy harvested in LHSs to the field of photocatalysis in an aqueous solution.
Background
Assessment of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) is a non-invasive measure of intracranial pressure (ICP). However, it is not clear whether healthy individuals exhibit ONSD variation or ...whether factors other than ICP affect the ONSD.
Purpose
To investigate whether ONSD was correlated with age, sex, height, weight, eyeball transverse diameter (ETD), or body mass index (BMI), and to develop a new diagnostic model to increase the diagnostic accuracy of intracranial hypertension (IH).
Material and Methods
A total of 145 relatively healthy adults and 40 patients with acute IH who underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were enrolled in this study. Linear regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between ONSD and these variables. If correlations were identified, an index ONSD
Δ
removing variables effects was calculated. ROC analysis was used to assess the IH predictive value of ONSDΔ in terms of sensitivity and specificity.
Results
In relatively healthy adults, there was a correlation between ONSD and BMI (P = 0.002), which can be presented as an index ONSDΔ. The ONSDΔ model better predicted IH than the ONSD model (P = 0.035), with a sensitivity of 70.00%, a specificity of 71.72%, and an AUC of 0.755.
Conclusion
A correlation between ONSD and body mass index (BMI) was found using high-resolution MRI. This result indicates that the effects of BMI should be considered along with the ONSD during ICP monitoring. Meanwhile, the index ONSDΔ was better than the ONSD in predicting IH and could be used to obtain a more precise estimation of ICP.
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