ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The immune inflammation-based score is recognized as a prognostic marker for cancer. However, the most accurate prognostic marker for patients with gastric cancer remains undetermined. We aimed to evaluate the predictive value of the lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio for outcomes in gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy. METHODS: A total of 607 gastric cancer patients treated at three Chinese institutions were included. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated, and the areas under the curve were calculated to compare the predictive value among the inflammation-based score, lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio, C-reactive protein/albumin and neutrophil-lymphocyte, platelet-lymphocyte and lymphocyte-monocyte ratios. Cox regression was performed to determine the prognostic factors for overall survival. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 63 months (range: 1-84 months). The optimal cut-off value for lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio was 0.63. The patients were divided into the LCR <0.63 (LLCR, n = 294) group and the LCR ≥0.63 (HLCR, n = 313) group. LLCR was significantly correlated with poor clinical characteristics. Compared with inflammation-based score, lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio had the highest areas under the curve (0.695). Patients with LLCR experienced more post-operative complications than the HLCR group (20.4 vs. 12.1%, P = 0.006). Multivariate analysis showed that a higher lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio (HR: 0.545, 95%CI: 0.372-0.799, P = 0.002) was associated with better overall survival. The HLCR group had higher 5-year overall survival rate than the LLCR group (80.5 vs. 54.9%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative lymphocyte-to-C-reactive protein ratio levels can effectively predict the short-term and oncological efficacy of gastric cancer patients after radical gastrectomy with a predictive value significantly better than other inflammation-based score.
Subject(s)
C-Reactive Protein/metabolism , Lymphocytes/metabolism , Stomach Neoplasms/immunology , Stomach Neoplasms/surgery , Adult , Disease-Free Survival , Female , Humans , Inflammation/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Postoperative Complications/etiology , Prognosis , ROC Curve , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Recently, flexible metacomposites with negative permittivity have triggered extensive interest owing largely to their promising applications in areas such as sensors, cloaking, and wearable and flexible electronic devices. In this paper, flexible silver nanowire/carbon fiber felt (AgNW/CFF) metacomposites with weakly negative permittivity were fabricated by adjusting their composition and microstructure. Along with the formation of a conductive AgNW network, the resulting composites gradually presented metal-like behavior. Interestingly, weakly negative permittivity with a small absolute value (as low as about 6.4) and good flexibility were observed in the composites with 3.7 wt% AgNWs. The one-dimensional silver nanowires contribute to reducing the overall electron density of the resulting composites, which is responsible for the weakly negative permittivity. As the AgNWs increased, the Drude-like negative permittivity got stronger owing to the enhancement of the electron density. Further investigation from the perspective of microelectronics revealed that the negative permittivity is dependent on the inductive characteristic. The proposed design strategy for AgNW/CFF composites with tunable negative permittivity opens up a new approach to flexible metacomposites.
ABSTRACT
The gas sensors have been widely used in various fields, to protect the safety of life and property. A novel heterostructure of Fe-O-Ti nanoparticles is fabricated by hydrothermal and wet chemical deposition methods. The Fe-O-Ti nanoparticles with a large number of pores possess high surface area, which is in favour of high-performance gas sensors. Compared with pure Fe2O3 and TiO2, the Fe-O-Ti composite exhibits obviously enhanced sensing characteristics, such as faster response-recovery time (T res = 6 s, T rec = 48 s), higher sensing response (response = 35.6) and better selectivity. The results show that the special morphology and large specific surface area of mulberry-like Fe-O-Ti heterostructures provided a large contact area for gas reactions.
ABSTRACT
Inspired by the leaf/vein structure of leaves which effectively supports the photosynthesis of green plants, a nano-leaf/vein bionic structure of self-assembled TiO2/MoS2 composites is applied to induce the reversible photochromic reactions of methylene blue (MB) for the first time. This reversible photochromic phenomenon gives a novel performance for the TiO2/MoS2 composites and expands their applications. Similar to the case where the natural vein network in leaves ensures the efficient material transfer and energy exchange for photosynthesis, the bionic internal MoS2 vein network in the composites ensures the efficient separation and directional transfer of photo-generated carriers to restrain the photocatalytic degradation reactions and to enhance the reversible photochromic reactions. Furthermore, the photosensitive applications of the TiO2/MoS2/MB systems with such a self-assembled nano-leaf/vein bionic structure are discussed with two typical photoelectric sensory models for both controllers and detectors.
ABSTRACT
While metal is the most common conductive constituent element in the preparation of metamaterials, one-dimensional conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) provide alternative building blocks. Here alumina (Al2O3) nanocomposites with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) uniformly dispersed in the alumina matrix were prepared by hot-pressing sintering. As the MWCNT content increased, the formed conductive MWCNT networks led to the occurrence of the percolation phenomenon and a change of the conductive mechanism. Two different types of negative permittivity (i.e., resonance-induced and plasma-like) were observed in the composites. The resonance-induced negative permittivity behavior in the composite with a low nanotube content was ascribed to the induced electric dipole generated from the isolated MWCNTs. The frequency dispersions of such negative permittivity can be fitted well by the Lorentz model, while the observed plasma-like negative permittivity behavior in the composites with MWCNT content exceeding the percolation threshold could be well explained by the low frequency plasmonic state generated from conductive nanotube networks using the Drude model. This work is favorable to revealing the generation mechanism of negative permittivity behavior and will greatly facilitate the practical applications of metamaterials.
