Background
We investigated the survival impact and toxicity of maintenance metronomic chemotherapy in patients with metastatic/recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (met/rec NPC).
Methods
Ninety‐eight ...patients with met/rec NPC were first salvaged by IV cisplatin‐based chemotherapy and showed nonprogression disease; then maintenance metronomic chemotherapy for at least 12 months was recommended. We analyzed the treatment outcome between patients who received (n = 51) and did not receive (n = 47) maintenance chemotherapy.
Results
Baseline patient characteristics showed no significant differences between both arms. Median overall survival for patients with and without maintenance chemotherapy was 36.0 and 12.3 months, respectively (p < 0.0001). Similarly, median progression‐free survival was 24.7 and 7.3 months, respectively (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, toxicities during maintenance oral chemotherapy period were usually mild. Transient grade 3 leucopenia (9.8%), anemia (3.9%), thrombocytopenia (7.8%), and no grade 4 toxicity were observed.
Conclusion
After IV salvage chemotherapy, maintenance oral metronomic chemotherapy significantly improved overall and progression‐free survivals while demonstrating low toxicity in patients with met/rec NPC.
In this paper, a novel phase-shedding control scheme for multiphase interleaved dc-dc converters is proposed to improve the light load efficiency. The proposed phase-shedding scheme is based upon ...power efficiency estimation with a numerically constructed lookup table and a phase configuration selector to automatically determine the load current point of phase shedding for the minimization of the power loss during the light load condition. The proposed scheme is verified on a three-phase-interleaved dc-dc synchronous buck converter with a 12 V input and 1.2 V, 60 A output. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
•Nonlinear term in nonlinear elliptic equation is decomposed by a splitting parameter and be linearized.•Optimal splitting-linearizing method (OSLM) is developed to accelerate the convergence ...speed.•The first iterative algorithm combines OSLM and the Pascal polynomials method to solve the Cauchy inverse problem in a simply-connected domain.•The second iterative algorithm combines OSLM, two-parameter bases and a linear system method to solve the Cauchy/Robin inverse problem in a doubly-connected domain.•Seven numerical experiments exhibit several advantages of these two iterative algorithms.
In the paper we develop a novel optimal splitting-linearizing method (OSLM) to iteratively solve a nonlinear inverse Cauchy problem in a simply-connected domain. The nonlinear term in the nonlinear elliptic equation is decomposed at two sides through a splitting parameter, which is then linearized around the value at the previous iteration step. The multiple-scale Pascal-polynomial method together with the OSLM is employed to solve the Cauchy problem, of which the optimal value of the splitting parameter is achieved by minimizing a theoretic merit function. Then, we solve the Cauchy/Robin inverse problem of a nonlinear elliptic equation in a doubly-connected domain for recovering the unknown Cauchy data and Robin transfer coefficient on an inner boundary. Two-parameter bases are derived to automatically satisfy the prescribed Cauchy boundary conditions on the outer boundary. When the solution is convergent after solving a sequence of linear systems, one can retrieve the Cauchy data very accurately. Simultaneously, the unknown Robin transfer coefficient is recovered from a given convective boundary condition on the inner boundary by either a division method or a linear system method. To overcome the ill-posed property of Cauchy/Robin problems, the optimal splitting parameter and a scaling factor play the role as regularization parameters. These methods assembled are new techniques to solve the Cauchy/Robin inverse problems. Although a few overspecified data are merely given on the outer boundary, the novel method is quite accurate, robust against large noise, and is convergent very fast to find the entire solution, the Cauchy data and the Robin transfer coefficient. We assess the convergence by the computed order of convergence (COC) of the proposed iterative algorithms.
Healthy dietary patterns are rich in micronutrients, but their influence on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks has not been systematically quantified.
The goal of this study was to provide a ...comprehensive and most up-to-date evidence-based map that systematically quantifies the impact of micronutrients on CVD outcomes.
This study comprised a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled intervention trials of micronutrients on CVD risk factors and clinical events.
A total of 884 randomized controlled intervention trials evaluating 27 types of micronutrients among 883,627 participants (4,895,544 person-years) were identified. Supplementation with n-3 fatty acid, n-6 fatty acid, l-arginine, l-citrulline, folic acid, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, α-lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, melatonin, catechin, curcumin, flavanol, genistein, and quercetin showed moderate- to high-quality evidence for reducing CVD risk factors. Specifically, n-3 fatty acid supplementation decreased CVD mortality (relative risk RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88-0.97), myocardial infarction (RR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.78-0.92), and coronary heart disease events (RR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.80-0.93). Folic acid supplementation decreased stroke risk (RR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.72-0.97), and coenzyme Q10 supplementation decreased all-cause mortality events (RR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.49-0.94). Vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, and selenium showed no effect on CVD or type 2 diabetes risk. β-carotene supplementation increased all-cause mortality (RR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.05-1.15), CVD mortality events (RR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.06-1.18), and stroke risk (RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.17).
Supplementation of some but not all micronutrients may benefit cardiometabolic health. This study highlights the importance of micronutrient diversity and the balance of benefits and risks to promote and maintain cardiovascular health in diverse populations. (Antioxidant Supplementation in the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases; CRD42022315165)
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Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) induces changes to the intestinal cell cytoskeleton and formation of attaching and effacing lesions, characterized by the effacement of microvilli and then ...formation of actin pedestals to which the bacteria are tightly attached. Here, we use a Caenorhabditis elegans model of EHEC infection to show that microvillar effacement is mediated by a signalling pathway including mitotic cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and diaphanous-related formin 1 (CYK1). Similar observations are also made using EHEC-infected human intestinal cells in vitro. Our results support the use of C. elegans as a host model for studying attaching and effacing lesions in vivo, and reveal that the CDK1-formin signal axis is necessary for EHEC-induced microvillar effacement.
Designing platinum (Pt)-based formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) catalysts with high performance and high selectivity of direct dehydrogenation pathway for direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) is ...desirable yet challenging. Herein, we report a new class of surface-uneven PtPbBi/PtBi core/shell nanoplates (PtPbBi/PtBi NPs) as the highly active and selective FAOR catalysts, even in the complicated membrane electrode assembly (MEA) medium. They can achieve unprecedented specific and mass activities of 25.1 mA cm–2 and 7.4 A mgPt –1 for FAOR, 156 and 62 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C, respectively, which is the highest for a FAOR catalyst by far. Simultaneously, they show highly weak adsorption of CO and high dehydrogenation pathway selectivity in the FAOR test. More importantly, the PtPbBi/PtBi NPs can reach the power density of 161.5 mW cm–2, along with a stable discharge performance (45.8% decay of power density at 0.4 V for 10 h), demonstrating great potential in a single DFAFC device. The in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results collectively reveal a local electron interaction between PtPbBi and PtBi. In addition, the high-tolerance PtBi shell can effectively inhibit the production/adsorption of CO, resulting in the complete presence of the dehydrogenation pathway for FAOR. This work demonstrates an efficient Pt-based FAOR catalyst with 100% direct reaction selectivity, which is of great significance for driving the commercialization of DFAFC.
The reliability of power systems with high penetration of renewables, a fast response mechanism, and precise decision-making scheme is more important than ever. This study presented a novel scheme ...that utilizes the predicted frequency nadir after a generation trip event to initiate necessary ancillary services such as fast spinning reserve units, energy storage units, and demand responses to restore the frequency back to the secure operating range. The proposed scheme coordinates Under-Frequency Load Shedding (UFLS) with ancillary services in the sense that the unnecessary load shedding can be avoided. By using the proposed scheme, the system becomes more resilient against disturbances, and the actions of load shedding are minimized. In this scheme, the frequency data is captured by phasor measurement units (PMUs), and a frequency nadir prediction algorithm is proposed. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme by using 1700-bus power system simulations and realistic frequency data from real generation trip events captured by a laboratory micro-phasor measurement unit (μPMU).
Elevated autophagy is highly associated with cancer development and progression. Fruit extracts of several plants inhibit activity of autophagy‐related protease ATG4B and autophagy activity in ...colorectal cancer cells. However, the effects of these plant extracts in oral cancer cells remain unclear. In this study, we found that the extracted Tribulus terrestris fruit (TT‐(fr)) and Xanthium strumarium fruit had inhibitory effects on autophagy inhibition in both SAS and TW2.6 oral cancer cells. Moreover, the fruit extracts had differential effects on cell proliferation of oral cancer cells. In addition, the fruit extracts hampered cell migration and invasion of oral cancer cells, particularly in TT‐(fr) extracts. Our results indicated that TT‐(fr) extracts consistently inhibited autophagic flux, cell growth and metastatic characteristics of oral cancer cells, suggesting TT‐(fr) might contain function ingredient to suppress oral cancer cells.
Electrocatalytic water splitting, as one of the most promising methods to store renewable energy generated by intermittent sources, such as solar and wind energy, has attracted tremendous attention ...in recent years. Developing efficient, robust, and green catalysts for the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) is of great interest. This study concerns a facile and green approach for producing RuNi/RuNi oxide nanoheterostructures by controllable partial oxidation of RuNi nanoalloy, which is characterized and confirmed by various techniques, including high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron‐based X‐ray absorption spectroscopy. This nanoheterostructure demonstrates outstanding bifunctional activities for catalyzing the HER and OER with overpotentials that are both among the lowest reported values. In a practical alkali–water‐splitting electrolyzer, it also achieves a record‐low cell voltage of 1.42 V at 10 mA cm−2, which is significantly superior to the commercial RuO2//Pt/C couple and other reported bifunctional water‐splitting electrocatalysts. Density functional theory calculations are employed to elaborate the effect of Ni incorporation. This simple catalyst preparation approach is expected to be transferrable to other electrocatalytic reactions.
RuNi rules: RuNi/RuNi oxide nanoheterostructures have been prepared as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for both the hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution reactions in alkaline electrolyte, showing a record‐low cell voltage of 1.42 V at 10 mA cm−2 current for overall water splitting.
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