Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for predicting parametrial invasion in cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the predictive efficacy of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in parametrial invasion (PMI) in cervical cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 83 cervical cancer patients (32 PMI-positive and 51 PMI-negative) retrospectively underwent pretreatment IVIM-DWI and DCE-MRI scans. IVIM-DWI parameters included apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), slow apparent diffusion coefficient (D), fast apparent diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f). DCE-MRI parameters included volume transfer constant (Ktrans), flux rate constant (Kep), and fractional extravascular extracellular space volume (Ve). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent variables associated with PMI. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to assess the predictive performance of significant parameters. RESULTS: Multivariable analysis revealed that the MRI parameters D (odds ratio [OR]: 7.05; 95% CI 1.78-27.88; P = 0.005), D* (OR 6.58; 95% CI 1.49-29.10; P = 0.01), f (OR 5.12; 95% CI 1.23-21.37; P = 0.03), Ktrans (OR 4.60; 95% CI 1.19-17.81; P = 0.03), and Kep (OR 4.90; 95% CI 1.25-19.18; P = 0.02) were independent predictors of PMI in cervical cancer patients. The combined parameter incorporating these parameters demonstrated the highest performance in predicting PMI, yielding an area under the curve of 0.906, sensitivity of 84.4%, and specificity of 86.3%. CONCLUSION: The proposed combined parameter exhibited favorable performance in identifying PMI in cervical cancer patients.

Comparison of laparoscopic versus open radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy for pancreatic cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic radical antegrade modular pancreatosplenectomy (l-RAMPS) provides a new surgical approach for patients with pancreatic cancers of the body and tail. However, whether it can achieve comparable outcomes to the open RAMPS (o-RAMPS) remains an issue. METHODS: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of l-RAMPS, the studies in the databases of Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library published before September 13, 2021 were searched and a meta-analysis was performed using the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline. The perioperative and oncological outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Five retrospective cohorts involving 189 patients were included for final pooled analysis. There were no significant differences in the patients' operation time, intra-abdominal bleeding rate, intra-abdominal infection rate, mild morbidity (Clavien-Dindo classification = 1), moderate to severe morbidity (Clavien-Dindo classification ≥2), overall morbidity, wound infection rate, pancreatic fistula rate, delayed gastric emptying rate, reoperation rate, length of hospital stay, postoperative mortality, R0 resection rate, and 2-year overall survival between the 2 approaches. Besides, l-RAMPS was associated with less blood loss (mean difference (MD) = -232.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -316.93 to -148.46, P < 0.00001) and shorter days until oral feeding (MD = -0.79, 95% CI = -1.35 to -0.22, P = 0.006). However, the pooled analysis also indicated a significantly fewer lymph nodes dissected (MD = -3.01, 95% CI = -5.59 to -0.43, P = 0.02) in l-RAMPS approach. CONCLUSIONS: Although l-RAMPS provides similar outcomes associated with benefits of minimal invasiveness compared to o-RAMPS, it harvested significantly fewer lymph nodes which might have potentially negative influence on the patients' long-term survival. L-RAMPS is still in the infancy stage and further investigation is needed to verify its feasibility.

Patients With Symptomatic AAAs Are More Likely to Develop Lumen Partial-Thrombus After Endovascular Aortic Repair Than Asymptomatic Patients.

Background: According to their symptoms, abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) can be divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic types. This study aimed to explore the differences and correlations between postoperative lumen thrombosis in these two groups after endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). Methods: A retrospective study using clinical data of 169 patients with AAA treated with EVAR collected in our hospital between January 2018 and January 2021 was conducted based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for patient selection. Based on whether the patient had clinical symptoms at admission and the presence of a complete lumen thrombus during follow-up, the patients were divided into two sets of groups: a complete-thrombus group (n = 44) and a partial-thrombus group (n = 125), and a group with clinical symptoms (n = 32) and a group without clinical symptoms (n = 137). The clinical data of these groups were compared, and a further stratified analysis was performed. Results: A total of 169 patients were included in the analysis. An abdominal aorta stent graft was successfully implanted in all patients. The complete-thrombus rate of the patients in this study was 73.96%. Univariate analysis showed that the maximal aortic diameter and preoperative peripheral blood neutrophil levels affected the clinical symptoms of patients with AAA (p < 0.05). The complete thrombus rate of the lumen of the AAA was lower in patients with clinical symptoms than in those without symptoms during the follow-up period (p < 0.05). Female sex, preoperative hyperuricemia, and symptoms at admission were independent risk factors for a partial thrombus in the lumen during follow-up. Based on these independent risk factors, we constructed a scoring system to differentiate patients into low- (0 points), middle- (1 point), and high-risk (2 points) groups. The scoring system could distinguish the complete lumen thrombosis rate after EVAR to a certain extent. Conclusions: Patients with symptomatic AAAs were more likely to develop incomplete lumen thrombosis than asymptomatic patients during follow-up after EVAR.

Retrospective Analysis of Pediatric Hepatoblastoma With Tumor Rupture: Experience From a Single Center.

Purpose: Hepatoblastoma (HB) tumor rupture is currently considered as a high-risk factor in some risk stratification systems. This study aimed to investigate the value of HB tumor rupture in predicting the poor prognosis. Methods: The clinical data from children with high-risk HB or HB tumor rupture at our institution from October 2008 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Results: Together, 34 children with high-risk HB or HB tumor rupture were retrospected, including 25 in the high-risk group and nine in tumor rupture group. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate in tumor rupture group was significantly higher than that of the high-risk group (100 vs. 64%, p = 0.0427). In tumor rupture group, seven (77.8%) of nine patients had a hemoglobin level ≤ 8 g/L and 3 of them (33.3%) had ≤ 6 g/L at the time of diagnosis. Peritoneal perfusion with interleukin-2 was implemented for each patient. At the end of the treatment, seven (77.8%) of nine patients achieved complete response (CR). No patient died at the last follow-up. Conclusions: HB tumor rupture might not be predictive of poor prognosis with the risk of peritoneal dissemination/relapse, in which peritoneal perfusion with interleukin-2 could play a role.

Preoperative high lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio is associated with intraoperative type I endoleak in patients with TAA with TEVAR.

OBJECTIVES: Various inflammatory factors are closely associated with the incidence of thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs). Furthermore, the severity of inflammation is closely related to the absolute value and proportion of each leukocyte subgroup. Only few reports have analyzed the importance of lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR) as a potential inflammatory marker in vascular diseases. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of peripheral blood LMR on thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) in patients with TAA. METHODS: A retrospective study of the clinical data collected in our hospital between January 2016 and January 2021 was performed on 162 patients with TAA treated with TEVAR, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for patient selection. Based on whether the patient had the clinical symptoms at admission and the occurrence of type I endoleaks during operation, patients were divided into two groups, respectively: an intraoperative type I endoleak group (n = 34) and a group without intraoperative type I endoleak (n = 128), and a group with clinical symptoms (n = 31) and a group without clinical symptoms (n = 131). The clinical data of these two groups were compared, the free from second intervention rates related to endoleak and the preoperatively LMR of the two groups was calculated. LMR was calculated preoperatively. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the cut-off for preoperative LMR values. Based on the cut-off point, patients were divided into a high LMR group (n = 34) and a low LMR group (n = 128). The clinical data of the two groups were compared, and further stratified analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 162 patients were included in the analysis. All patients were successfully implanted with a thoracic aorta stent graft. The preoperative LMR level and postoperative endoleak-related secondary intervention rate were higher in the type I endoleak group than those in the group without intraoperative type I endoleaks. The preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) level of patients with TAA with clinical symptoms was higher than that of asymptomatic patients. There was a negative correlation between preoperative CRP and LMR levels. In addition, in symptomatic or asymptomatic patients, the LMR level was associated with the occurrence of intraoperative type I endoleaks. After excluding the influence of type of endografts, our results showed that the clinical symptoms did not affect the occurrence of the intraoperative type I endoleak, and patients with intraoperative type I endoleak had a higher rate of postoperative secondary intervention. CONCLUSION: Patients with TAA with type I endoleaks during TEVAR had an increased rate of secondary intervention related to endoleaks. Patients with TAA with high LMR levels before TEVAR were more likely to have endoleaks during operation.

Therapeutic effect of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization based on the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio.

Aim: To evaluate the feasibility of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as an index to guide postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) in patients with liver cancer. Methods: We recruited a total of 166 patients with liver cancer who underwent surgery alone or surgery plus PA-TACE between January 2013 and June 2017 and compared the 1, 2, and 3-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) between patients with high and low NLRs, surgery and surgery plus PA-TACE groups, and relevant subgroups using the Kaplan-Meier method. We also evaluated the independent factors affecting the prognosis of liver cancer after surgery using a Cox risk ratio model and correlation between NLR levels and high-risk recurrence factors of liver cancer with logistic regression analysis. Results: The 1, 2, and 3-year RFS rates were all significantly higher in the low-NLR group compared to the high-NLR group (P < 0.05). However, the 1, 2, and 3-year OS rates were similar in the low- and high-NLR groups (P > 0.05). After propensity score matching, the 1, 2, and 3-year RFS and OS rates were significantly better in patients treated with surgery plus PA-TACE compared with surgery alone (P < 0.05). The 1, 2, and 3-year RFS and OS rates were also significantly better in the surgery plus PA-TACE subgroup compared with the surgery-alone subgroup in the high-NLR group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in RFS or OS between the surgery plus PA-TACE and surgery-alone subgroups at 1, 2, and 3 years in the low-NLR group (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis in the high-NLR group showed that a poorly differentiated or undifferentiated tumor was an independent risk factor for postoperative RFS. Multiple tumors were an independent risk factor for postoperative OS (P < 0.05), while PA-TACE was an independent protective factor for postoperative RFS and OS (P < 0.05). In the low-NLR group, AFP > 400 µg/L was an independent risk factor for postoperative OS (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that patients with a maximum tumor diameter of >5 cm were at increased risk of having high NLR levels compared to patients with a maximum tumor diameter of <5 cm (P < 0.05). Conclusion: PA-TACE can improve the prognosis of patients with a high preoperative NLR (≥2.5), but has no obvious benefit in patients with low preoperative NLR (<2.5). This may provide a reference for clinical selection of PA-TACE.

Bioinformatics Analysis Reveals the Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.

Objectives: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are associated with high mortality rates. The genes and pathways linked with AAA remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) linked to the progression of AAA using bioinformatics analysis. Methods: Gene expression profiles of the GSE47472 and GSE57691 datasets were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. These datasets were merged and normalized using the "sva" R package, and DEGs were identified using the limma package in R. The functions of these DEGs were assessed using Cytoscape software. We analyzed the DEGs using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Protein-protein interaction networks were assembled using Cytoscape, and crucial genes were identified using the Cytoscape plugin, molecular complex detection. Data from GSE15729 and GSE24342 were also extracted to verify our findings. Results: We found that 120 genes were differentially expressed in AAA. Genes associated with inflammatory responses and nuclear-transcribed mRNA catabolic process were clustered in two gene modules in AAA. The hub genes of the two modules were IL6, RPL21, and RPL7A. The expression levels of IL6 correlated positively with RPL7A and negatively with RPL21. The expression of RPL21 and RPL7A was downregulated, whereas that of IL6 was upregulated in AAA. Conclusions: The expression of RPL21 or RPL7A combined with IL6 has a diagnostic value for AAA. The novel DEGs and pathways identified herein might provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of AAA.

Clinical application of "Double R" anastomosis technique in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure.

ABSTRACT: Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) is widely used as a treatment for periampullary tumors and pancreatic head tumors. However, postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF), which significantly affects mortality and length of hospital stay of patients, remains one of the most common and serious complications following LPD. Though numerous technical modifications for pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ) have been proposed, POPF is still the "Achilles heel" of LPD.To reduce POPF rate and other postoperative complications following LPD by exploring the best approach to manage with the pancreatic remnant, a novel duct-to-mucosa anastomosis technique named Double Layer Running Suture (Double R) for the PJ was established. During 2018 and 2020, a totally 35 patients who underwent LPD with Double R were included, data on the total operative time, PJ duration, estimated blood loss, recovery of bowel function, postoperative complications, and length of hospital stay were collected and analyzed.The average duration of surgery was (380 ±â€Š69) minutes. The mean time for performing PJ was (34 ±â€Š5) minutes. The average estimated blood loss was (180 ±â€Š155) mL. The overall POPF rate was 8.6% (3/35), including 8.6% (3/35) for the biochemical leak, 0% (0/35) for Grade B, and 0% (0/35) for Grade C. No patient suffered from biliary fistula, post-pancreatectomy hemorrhage, and intra-abdominal infection, the 30-day mortality was 0%.Double R anastomosis is potentially a safe, reliable, and rapid anastomosis with a low rate of POPF and post-pancreatectomy hemorrhage. It provides surgeons more options when performing LPD. However, its safety and effectiveness should be verified further by a larger prospective multicenter study.

Evaluation of the Therapeutic Effect of Adjuvant Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization Based on Ki67 After Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surgery.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study aimed to determine the relationship between Ki67 expression and the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) rates between the sub-groups in the ki67 low expression group and the ki67 high expression group and analyze the relationship between the expression of Ki67 and the efficacy of TACE. RESULTS: After PSM, there was no significant difference in the RFS and OS between the surgery + TACE and surgery subgroups after 1, 2, or 3 years (RFS: 63.9%, 55.6%, and 42.9% vs. 83.3%, 63.9%, and 55.6%, respectively, P = 0.279; OS: 91.7%, 83.3%, and 74.3% vs. 91.7%, 88.9%, and 71.4%, respectively, P = 0.890) in the Ki67 low-expression group. The RFS and OS were higher in the surgery + TACE subgroup than the surgery subgroup after 1, 2, and 3 years (RFS: 80.0%, 77.5%, and 69.2% vs. 53.5%, 39.5%, and 32.6%, respectively, P<0.001; OS: 97.5%, 85.0%, and 79.5% vs. 79.1%, 48.8%, and 42.9%, respectively, P = 0.001) in the Ki67 high expression group. The RFS was higher in the Ki67 high-expression subgroup than the low-expression subgroup after 1, 2, and 3 years, and OS had no significant difference (RFS: 80.0%, 79.5%, and 69.2% vs. 67.4%, 56.5%, and 46.7%, respectively, P = 0.035; OS: 97.5%, 85.0%, and 79.5% vs. 93.5%, 82.6%, and 75.6%, respectively, P = 0.665) in the surgery + TACE group. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and high expression of Ki67 (Ki67≥20%), adjuvant hepatic artery chemoembolization after radical liver tumor resection effectively reduced the probability of tumor recurrence after surgery and prolonged the OS of patients. High Ki67 expression during the post-operative follow-up evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma patients is an indicator for adjuvant TACE therapy.

A dual luminescent sensor coordination polymer for simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and tryptophan.

Simultaneous high sensitivity detection of biomolecules is important for research in medicine, living cells and environmental samples. In this work, a water stable coordination polymer, [Cd2(bptc)(4,4'-bpy)(H2O)3]ˑH2O 1 (H4bptc = 2,3,3',4'-biphenyl tetracarboxylic acid, 4,4'-bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine), was designed and successfully synthesized as a luminescent sensor for simultaneous recognition of Ascorbic Acid (AA) and L-Tryptophan (L-Trp) based on luminescent -OFF and -ON, respectively. Importantly, the proposed sensing system showed an excellent performance with high KSV values of 4.85 × 104 M-1, 9.60 × 107 M-1 and low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.28 nM, 63 nM, respectively. In addition, the probable mechanisms are also discussed. The luminescent quenching behavior by AA can be mainly attributed to the static resonance energy transfer between complex 1 and the analytes. Whereas the enhancing effect of L-Trp comes from the intrinsic strong luminescence for L-Trp itself and photo-competitive mechanism between CP 1 sensor and L-Trp, supposedly. In addition, the repeatability of both systems were also investigated.

Nickel-Cobalt Diselenide 3D Mesoporous Nanosheet Networks Supported on Ni Foam: An All-pH Highly Efficient Integrated Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution.

Novel 3D Ni1-x Cox Se2 mesoporous nanosheet networks with tunable stoichiometry are successfully synthesized on Ni foam (Ni1-x Cox Se2 MNSN/NF with x ranging from 0 to 0.35). The collective effects of special morphological design and electronic structure engineering enable the integrated electrocatalyst to have very high activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and excellent stability in a wide pH range. Ni0.89 Co0.11 Se2 MNSN/NF is revealed to exhibit an overpotential (η10 ) of 85 mV at -10 mA cm-2 in alkaline medium (pH 14) and η10 of 52 mV in acidic solution (pH 0), which are the best among all selenide-based electrocatalysts reported thus far. In particular, it is shown for the first time that the catalyst can work efficiently in neutral solution (pH 7) with a record η10 of 82 mV for all noble metal-free electrocatalysts ever reported. Based on theoretical calculations, it is further verified that the advanced all-pH HER activity of Ni0.89 Co0.11 Se2 is originated from the enhanced adsorption of both H+ and H2 O induced by the substitutional doping of cobalt at an optimal level. It is believed that the present work provides a valuable route for the design and synthesis of inexpensive and efficient all-pH HER electrocatalysts.

[Fingerprint Properties of Cephalosporin Pharmaceutical Wastewater].

Fluorescence spectrum is unique for each water sample, and is called "aqueous fingerprint". Aqueous fingerprint could indicate the contamination in water and thus is a new technology for early warning. Cephalosporin is one of the most commonly used antibiotics worldwide yet with environmental hazards. The production of cephalosporin in China is growing every year. Therefore, the study of aqueous fingerprint of cephalosporin pharmaceutical wastewater is significantly important for both monitoring the discharge of pharmaceutical wastewater and protecting the aquatic environment. In this study we investigated the properties of water fingerprint of cephalosporin pharmaceutical wastewater. There existed 6 peaks in the fingerprints. According to the emission wavelength, these peaks could be divided into two groups: the first group included the peaks locating at excitation wavelength/emission wavelength of 230/350, 275/350，315/350 nm and the second group consisted of the peaks locating at excitation wavelength/emission wavelength of 225/405, 275/410 and 330/420 nm respectively. The highest intensity was found at excitation wavelength/emission wavelength of 230/350 nm. In each group, the fluorescence intensity of the peaks with shorter excitation wavelength is higher. pH could significantly change the position and intensity of the peaks. When pH rose, the peak intensity of first group decreased and that of the second group increased. The intensity decrease is called fluorescence quenching and the intensity increase is called fluorescence sensitizing. The sensitizing and quenching was probably related to the fluorescence organic components with acid and alkaline radical groups in the wastewater. Because if a fluorescent substance contains weak acid or base groups, both the molecular configuration and ionic configurations exist in the solution at the same time. The spatial structure of these configurations are different. This makes the luminescent properties of the configurations different. When pH changes, the ratio of molecular configuration and ionic forms also changes, which causes the change of location and intensity of the fluorescence peaks. Above all, the properties of aqueous fingerprint of cephalosporin pharmaceutical wastewater is distinct and distinguishable. The properties of aqueous fingerprint can be used as a novel tool to identify the appearance of cephalosporin pharmaceutical wastewater.

[Fingerprint Properties of Semi Synthetic Penicillin Pharmaceutical Wastewater].

High-concentration antibiotics are detected in surface water from time to time. There has been an increasing demand for strengthening the supervision of the antibiotic pharmaceutical wastewater. Three-dimensional fluorescence technique is known as a rapid, simple and high-sensitivity method. The three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum can display organic components and it was named as aqueous fingerprint. In this paper, three-dimensional fluorescence characteristics of a typical semi synthetic penicillin pharmaceutical wastewater were studied. There were totally four fluorescence peaks in the aqueous fingerprint of this wastewater, locating in excitation wavelength/emission wavelength of 360/445, 255/445, 275/305 and 230/300 nm respectively. Fluorescence peak's intensity within certain range related linearly to the relative concentration. The possible fluorescent pollutants related to Peak C and Peak D might be the mixture of D-(-)-A-4-Hydroxyphenylglycine Dane Salt Methyl Potassium (pharmaceutical intermediates), Amoxicillin (pharmaceutical product) and D(-)-4-Hydroxyphenylglycine (pharmaceutical hydrolysate). PH played an important role in the fluorescence characteristics of this wastewater. This indicated that the fluorescent organic pollutants in this wastewater might contain acid or base groups. The aqueous fingerprint technique could be used to monitor the discharge of semi synthetic penicillin pharmaceutical wastewater as a novel tool.

[Aqueous Fingerprint of Printing and Dyeing Wastewater].

Aqueous fingerprint has an advantage to represent the organic components of water samples as compared to traditional parameters such as chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). Printing and dyeing wastewater is one of the major types of industrial wastewater in China. It is of huge volume and heavy pollution, containing large numbers of luminescent components and being difficult to be degraded. In this study the aqueous fingerprint of printing and dyeing wastewater was investigated with the fluorescent spectrometry. The experimental results showed that there existed two peaks in the aqueous fingerprint of the printing and dyeing wastewater, locating at the excitation/emission wavelength around 230/340 nm and 280/310 nm respectively. The intensity of the excitation/emission wavelength at 230/340 nm was higher than that of 280/310 nm. The locations and intensities of peaks varied within small range. The intensities of the two peaks linearly correlated with coefficient of 0.910 8 and slope of 1.506. The intensity ratio of Peak at 280/310 nm to Peak at 230/340 nm averagely was 0.777, ranging between 0.712 and 0.829. It was found that the aqueous fingerprints of sewage and aniline compounds were significantly different from that of the printing and dyeing wastewater, but the aqueous fingerprints of several types of widely-used dye were similar to that of the printing and dyeing wastewater. Thus dye may be the main luminescent components in the wastewater. The aqueous fingerprint can be used as a novel tool of early warning of waterbodies.

Controllable growth of CNTs on graphene as high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors.

Design and synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) structured carbon materials are crucial for achieving high-performance supercapacitors (SC) for energy storage. Here, we report the preparation of 3D architectured GN-CNT hybrid as SC electrodes. Controllable growth of carbon nanotubes on graphene sheets was realized through a facile one-pot pyrolysis strategy. The length of the carbon nanotubes could be rationally tuned by adjusting the amount of precursors. Correspondingly, the resulted GN-CNT hybrid showed adjustable electrochemical performance as an SC electrode. Importantly, the GN-CNT exhibited a high specific surface area of 903 m(2) g(-1) and maximum specific capacitance of 413 F g(-1) as SC electrodes at a scan rate of 5 mV s(-1) in 6 M KOH aqueous solution. This work paves a feasible pathway to prepare carbon electrode materials with favorable 3D architecture and high performance, for use in energy storage and conversion.

Treatment outcome of radiotherapy alone versus radiochemotherapy in early stage nasal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.

This study aims to investigate the prognostic factors and long-term treatment outcome in patients with early stage nasal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma. Sixty-four patients were recruited in this study, whose clinical and laboratory data were collected from hospital records. Early stage (stage IE: 51, stage IIE: 13) nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma (NNTCL) was established according to Ann Arbor staging classification. Among these patients, 23 received radiotherapy (RT) alone, the remaining 41 cases were treated with radiochemotherapy (RCT) comprised of 1-6 cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapeutic regimens. Results show that the median overall survival (OS) time was 41 months. The 5-year OS and progression-free survival rates were 59.2 and 52.3%, respectively. The 5-year OS rate for patients who received RT alone was 57.9%, whereas that for patients who received RCT was 61.5% (P = 0.47). There is no significant difference between two treatment modalities. Multivariate analysis showed that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) score > or = 2, local tumor invasion out of nasal cavity, and lower complete remission (CR) rates in the initial treatment were significant unfavorable independent prognostic factors. Taken together, our study suggests that RCT did not improve the survival rate of patients with early stage NNTCL. PS score before treatment, local tumor invasion out of nasal cavity, and CR rate of the primary treatment may be independent prognostic factors among the subtype lymphoma entity.