Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant epithelial tumor originating in the nasopharynx and has a high incidence in Southeast Asia and North Africa. To develop these comprehensive guidelines ...for the diagnosis and management of NPC, the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) arranged a multi‐disciplinary team comprising of experts from all sub‐specialties of NPC to write, discuss, and revise the guidelines. Based on the findings of evidence‐based medicine in China and abroad, domestic experts have iteratively developed these guidelines to provide proper management of NPC. Overall, the guidelines describe the screening, clinical and pathological diagnosis, staging and risk assessment, therapies, and follow‐up of NPC, which aim to improve the management of NPC.
Harvesting biomechanical energy is an important route for providing electricity to sustainably drive wearable electronics, which currently still use batteries and therefore need to be charged or ...replaced/disposed frequently. Here we report an approach that can continuously power wearable electronics only by human motion, realized through a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with optimized materials and structural design. Fabricated by elastomeric materials and a helix inner electrode sticking on a tube with the dielectric layer and outer electrode, the TENG has desirable features including flexibility, stretchability, isotropy, weavability, water-resistance and a high surface charge density of 250 μC m
. With only the energy extracted from walking or jogging by the TENG that is built in outsoles, wearable electronics such as an electronic watch and fitness tracker can be immediately and continuously powered.
Near-infrared (NIR) luminescent materials are attracting much attention as the promising applications in food composition analysis, night vision, biosensors, and so on. Besides Cr3+ ions, other ions ...such as Eu2+, Ce3+, and Bi3+, etc. recently also exhibit remarkable broadband NIR light emission in inorganic hosts. The key issues are to optimize their photoluminescence quantum yield and reveal an unclear “structure-luminescence” relationship. Herein, photoluminescence properties of NIR luminescent materials without Cr3+ are systematically summarized. Importantly, we propose a significant influence of local crystal structure on NIR luminescence properties. These strategies contain (i) ligand covalency, (ii) strong crystal field and distorted lattice, (iii) selective sites occupation, and (iv) mixed valences and doping level control. The proposed “structure-luminescence” relationship can provide a new insight into exploit NIR luminescent materials and optimize current luminescent materials. Furthermore, the concept of “high-throughput DFT prediction-crystal structure design-photoluminescence performances optimization” is summarized to swiftly develop targeted NIR luminescent materials. Subsequently, energy transfer strategies and application prospects are summarized in detail. This review discusses the relationship between crystal structure and NIR light emission based on a high-throughput method. The proposed concept can offer a guidance to exploit a series of novel NIR luminescent materials and clarify underlying luminescence mechanisms.
The medial preoptic area (mPOA) differs between males and females in nearly all species examined to date, including humans. Here, using fiber photometry recordings of Ca
transients in freely behaving ...mice, we show ramping activities in the mPOA that precede and correlate with sexually dimorphic display of male-typical mounting and female-typical pup retrieval. Strikingly, optogenetic stimulation of the mPOA elicits similar display of mounting and pup retrieval in both males and females. Furthermore, by means of recording, ablation, optogenetic activation, and inhibition, we show mPOA neurons expressing estrogen receptor alpha (Esr1) are essential for the sexually biased display of these behaviors. Together, these results underscore the shared layout of the brain that can mediate sex-specific behaviors in both male and female mice and provide an important functional frame to decode neural mechanisms governing sexually dimorphic behaviors in the future.
Low-density compressible materials enable various applications but are often hindered by structure-derived fatigue failure, weak elasticity with slow recovery speed and large energy dissipation. Here ...we demonstrate a carbon material with microstructure-derived super-elasticity and high fatigue resistance achieved by designing a hierarchical lamellar architecture composed of thousands of microscale arches that serve as elastic units. The obtained monolithic carbon material can rebound a steel ball in spring-like fashion with fast recovery speed (∼580 mm s
), and demonstrates complete recovery and small energy dissipation (∼0.2) in each compress-release cycle, even under 90% strain. Particularly, the material can maintain structural integrity after more than 10
cycles at 20% strain and 2.5 × 10
cycles at 50% strain. This structural material, although constructed using an intrinsically brittle carbon constituent, is simultaneously super-elastic, highly compressible and fatigue resistant to a degree even greater than that of previously reported compressible foams mainly made from more robust constituents.
Post-radiation nasopharyngeal necrosis (PRNN) is a severe adverse event following re-radiotherapy for patients with locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LRNPC) and associated with decreased ...survival. Biological heterogeneity in recurrent tumors contributes to the different risks of PRNN. Radiomics can be used to mine high-throughput non-invasive image features to predict clinical outcomes and capture underlying biological functions. We aimed to develop a radiogenomic signature for the pre-treatment prediction of PRNN to guide re-radiotherapy in patients with LRNPC.
This multicenter study included 761 re-irradiated patients with LRNPC at four centers in NPC endemic area and divided them into training, internal validation, and external validation cohorts. We built a machine learning (random forest) radiomic signature based on the pre-treatment multiparametric magnetic resonance images for predicting PRNN following re-radiotherapy. We comprehensively assessed the performance of the radiomic signature. Transcriptomic sequencing and gene set enrichment analyses were conducted to identify the associated biological processes.
The radiomic signature showed discrimination of 1-year PRNN in the training, internal validation, and external validation cohorts (area under the curve (AUC) 0.713-0.756). Stratified by a cutoff score of 0.735, patients with high-risk signature had higher incidences of PRNN than patients with low-risk signature (1-year PRNN rates 42.2-62.5% vs. 16.3-18.8%, P < 0.001). The signature significantly outperformed the clinical model (P < 0.05) and was generalizable across different centers, imaging parameters, and patient subgroups. The radiomic signature had prognostic value concerning its correlation with PRNN-related deaths (hazard ratio (HR) 3.07-6.75, P < 0.001) and all causes of deaths (HR 1.53-2.30, P < 0.01). Radiogenomics analyses revealed associations between the radiomic signature and signaling pathways involved in tissue fibrosis and vascularity.
We present a radiomic signature for the individualized risk assessment of PRNN following re-radiotherapy, which may serve as a noninvasive radio-biomarker of radiation injury-associated processes and a useful clinical tool to personalize treatment recommendations for patients with LANPC.
The parabrachial nucleus (PBN) is one of the major targets of spinal projection neurons and plays important roles in pain. However, the architecture of the spinoparabrachial pathway underlying its ...functional role in nociceptive information processing remains elusive. Here, we report that the PBN directly relays nociceptive signals from the spinal cord to the intralaminar thalamic nuclei (ILN). We demonstrate that the spinal cord connects with the PBN in a bilateral manner and that the ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway is critical for nocifensive behavior. We identify Tacr1-expressing neurons as the major neuronal subtype in the PBN that receives direct spinal input and show that these neurons are critical for processing nociceptive information. Furthermore, PBN neurons receiving spinal input form functional monosynaptic excitatory connections with neurons in the ILN, but not the amygdala. Together, our results delineate the neural circuit underlying nocifensive behavior, providing crucial insight into the circuit mechanism underlying nociceptive information processing.
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•The ipsi- and contralateral spinoparabrachial pathways are functionally distinct•The ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway mediates nocifensive behavior•Tacr1+ neurons in the PBN represent the major target of spinal projection•The PBN relays nociceptive information to the ILN via glutamatergic synapses
Deng et al. demonstrate that the ipsilateral spinoparabrachial pathway mediates nocifensive behavior and identify that the Tacr1+ neurons in the parabrachial nucleus represent the major target of the spinal projection. The authors also reveal the major downstream pathway for processing nociceptive information.
Inorganic arsenic (iAs), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and methylmercury (MeHg) are toxic metals that cause substantial health concern and are present in various seafood items. This study linked ...probabilistic risk assessment to the interactive hazard index (HIINT) approach to assess the human mixture risk posed by the dietary intake of iAs, Cd, Pb, and MeHg from seafood for different age populations, and joint toxic actions and toxic interactions among metals were also considered in the assessment. We found that, in combination, an iAs–Cd–Pb–MeHg mixture synergistically causes neurological toxicity. Furthermore, an iAs–Cd–Pb mixture antagonistically causes renal and hematological effects and additively causes cardiovascular effect. Our results demonstrated that if toxic interactions are not considered, the health risk may be overestimated or underestimated. The 50th percentile HIINT estimates in all age populations for neurological, renal, cardiovascular, and hematological effects were lower than 1; however, the 97.5th percentile HIINT estimates might exceed 1. In particular, toddlers and preschoolers had the highest neurological risk, with 0.16 and 0.19 probabilities, respectively, of neurological HIINT exceeding 1. Saltwater fish consumption was the principal contributor to the health risk. We suggest that regular monitoring of metal levels in seafood, more precise dietary surveys, further toxicological data, and risk–benefit analysis of seafood consumption are warranted to improve the accuracy of human mixture risk assessment and determine optimal consumption.
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