Nomogram based on multimodal magnetic resonance combined with B7-H3mRNA for preoperative lymph node prediction in esophagus cancer.

BACKGROUND: Accurate preoperative prediction of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in esophageal cancer (EC) patients is of crucial clinical significance for treatment planning and prognosis. AIM: To develop a clinical radiomics nomogram that can predict the preoperative lymph node (LN) status in EC patients. METHODS: A total of 32 EC patients confirmed by clinical pathology (who underwent surgical treatment) were included. Real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the expression of B7-H3 mRNA in EC tissue obtained during preoperative gastroscopy, and its correlation with LNM was analyzed. Radiomics features were extracted from multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging of EC using Pyradiomics in Python. Feature extraction, data dimensionality reduction, and feature selection were performed using XGBoost model and leave-one-out cross-validation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to establish the prediction model, which included radiomics features, LN status from computed tomography (CT) reports, and B7-H3 mRNA expression, represented by a radiomics nomogram. Receiver operating characteristic area under the curve (AUC) and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the predictive performance and clinical application value of the model. RESULTS: The relative expression of B7-H3 mRNA in EC patients with LNM was higher than in those without metastasis, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The AUC value in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.718 (95%CI: 0.528-0.907), with a sensitivity of 0.733 and specificity of 0.706, indicating good diagnostic performance. The individualized clinical prediction nomogram included radiomics features, LN status from CT reports, and B7-H3 mRNA expression. The ROC curve demonstrated good diagnostic value, with an AUC value of 0.765 (95%CI: 0.598-0.931), sensitivity of 0.800, and specificity of 0.706. DCA indicated the practical value of the radiomics nomogram in clinical practice. CONCLUSION: This study developed a radiomics nomogram that includes radiomics features, LN status from CT reports, and B7-H3 mRNA expression, enabling convenient preoperative individualized prediction of LNM in EC patients.

Nucleophilic aromatization of monoterpenes from isoprene under nickel/iodine cascade catalysis.

As a large number of organic compounds possessing two isoprene units, monoterpenes and monoterpenoids play important roles in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural, and food industries. In nature, monoterpenes are constructed from geranyl pyrophosphate (C10) via various transformations. Herein, the bulk C5 chemical-isoprene, is used for the creation of various monoterpenoids via a nucleophilic aromatization of monoterpenes under cascade catalysis of nickel and iodine. Drugs and oil mixtures from conifer and lemon can be convergently transformed to the desired monoterpenoid. Preliminary mechanistic studies are conducted to get insights about reaction pathway. Two types of cyclic monoterpenes can be respectively introduced onto two similar heterocycles via orthogonal C-H functionalization. And various hybrid terpenyl indoles are programmatically assembled from abundant C5 or C10 blocks. This work not only contributes a high chemo-, regio-, and redox-selective transformation of isoprene, but also provides a complementary approach for the creation of unnatural monoterpenoids.

Nickel-catalyzed divergent Mizoroki-Heck reaction of 1,3-dienes.

Developing efficient strategies to realize divergent arylation of dienes has been a long-standing synthetic challenge. Herein, a nickel catalyzed divergent Mizoroki-Heck reaction of 1,3-dienes has been demonstrated through the regulation of ligands and additives. In the presence of Mn/NEt3, the Mizoroki-Heck reaction of dienes delivers linear products under Ni(dppe)Cl2 catalysis in high regio- and stereoselectivities. With the help of catalytic amount of organoboron and NaF, the use of bulky ligand IPr diverts the selectivity from linear products to branched products. Highly aryl-substituted compounds can be transformed from dispersive Mizoroki-Heck products programmatically. Preliminary experimental studies are carried out to elucidate the role of additives.

Nickel-Catalyzed Unsymmetrical Bis-Allylation of Alkynes.

The catalytic bis-allylation of alkynes is an important but challenging protocol to construct all-carbon tetra-substituted alkenes. Particularly, the catalytic unsymmetrical bis-allylation of alkynes remains as an underexplored task to date. We herein report an unprecedented unsymmetrical bis-allylation by simultaneously utilizing electrophilic trifluoromethyl alkene and nucleophilic allylboronate as the allylic reagents. With the aid of robust Ni0 /NHC catalysis, valuable skipped trienes can be obtained in high regio- and stereo-selectivities under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies indicate that the reaction may proceed through a ß-fluorine elimination of a nickelacycle followed by a transmetalation step with allylboronate. The present method exhibits a good tolerance of various functional groups. Besides, the skipped triene products can undergo an array of elaborate transformations, which highlights the potential applications of this strategy.

Skeleton-Reorganizing Coupling Reactions of Cycloheptatriene and Cycloalkenones with Amines.

Skeletal reorganization reactions have emerged as an intriguing tool for converting readily available compounds into complicated molecules inaccessible by traditional methods. Herein, we report a unique skeleton-reorganizing coupling reaction of cycloheptatriene and cycloalkenones with amines. In the presence of Rh/acid catalysis, cycloheptatriene can selectively couple with anilines to deliver fused 1,2-dihydroquinoline products. Mechanistic studies indicate that the retro-Mannich type ring-opening and subsequent intramolecular Povarov reaction account for the ring reorganization. Our mechanistic studies also revealed that skeleton-reorganizing amination between anilines and cycloalkenones can be achieved with acid. The synthetic utilization of this skeleton-reorganizing coupling reaction was showcased with a gram-scale reaction, synthetic derivatizations, and the late-stage modification of commercial drugs.

Orthogonal Regulation of Nucleophilic and Electrophilic Sites in Pd-Catalyzed Regiodivergent Couplings between Indazoles and Isoprene.

Depending on the reactant property and reaction mechanism, one major regioisomer can be favored in a reaction that involves multiple active sites. Herein, an orthogonal regulation of nucleophilic and electrophilic sites in the regiodivergent hydroamination of isoprene with indazoles is demonstrated. Under Pd-hydride catalysis, the 1,2- or 4,3-insertion pathway with respect to the electrophilic sites on isoprene could be controlled by the choice of ligands. In terms of the nucleophilic sites on indazoles, the reaction occurs at either the N1 - or N2 -position of indazoles is governed by the acid co-catalysts. Preliminary experimental studies have been performed to rationalize the mechanism and regioselectivity. This study not only contributes a practical tool for selective functionalization of isoprene, but also provides a guide to manipulate the regioselectivity for the N-functionalization of indazoles.

Nickel-catalyzed allyl-allyl coupling reactions between 1,3-dienes and allylboronates.

A regiospecific allyl-allyl coupling reaction between 1,3-dienes and allylboronates has been demonstrated under nickel catalysis. Salient features of this method include the earth-abundant metal catalyst, excellent regioselectivity and good functional group tolerance. Notably, even congested allyl substrates can also be applied to this protocol, thus allowing for the rapid preparation of a series of valuable 1,5-dienes.

[Prediction of the side-cut product yield of atmospheric/vacuum distillation unit by NIR crude oil rapid assay].

In the present paper, based on the fast evaluation technique of near infrared, a method to predict the yield of atmos- pheric and vacuum line was developed, combined with H/CAMS software. Firstly, the near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy method for rapidly determining the true boiling point of crude oil was developed. With commercially available crude oil spectroscopy da- tabase and experiments test from Guangxi Petrochemical Company, calibration model was established and a topological method was used as the calibration. The model can be employed to predict the true boiling point of crude oil. Secondly, the true boiling point based on NIR rapid assay was converted to the side-cut product yield of atmospheric/vacuum distillation unit by H/CAMS software. The predicted yield and the actual yield of distillation product for naphtha, diesel, wax and residual oil were compared in a 7-month period. The result showed that the NIR rapid crude assay can predict the side-cut product yield accurately. The near infrared analytic method for predicting yield has the advantages of fast analysis, reliable results, and being easy to online operate, and it can provide elementary data for refinery planning optimization and crude oil blending.

Left ventricular longitudinal rotation changes in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy detected by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the left ventricular longitudinal rotation (LR) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Conventional echocardiography (GE-Vivid7) was performed in 35 healthy subjects and 42 DCM patients. Left atrial diameter was measured by M-mode echocardiography, left ventricular end-systolic, end-diastolic volume and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were calculated by bi-plane simpson's method. The peak velocity during early diastole (Ve) and late diastole (Va) of anterior mitral valve were measured by pulse-waved doppler, and the ratio Ve/Va was calculated. The peak radial systolic strain, strain rate in systolic, early and late diastolic periods were measured. Segmental LR and global LR were assessed using two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The peak radial systolic strain, strain rate in systolic, early and late diastolic periods in DCM group were significantly lower than in healthy subjects, the rotation degrees of the middle and base lateral, the apex and the base septum walls were significantly lower than those of the healthy subjects. A prominent counterclockwise LR (0.76° ± 2.63°) was shown in healthy subjects while prominent clockwise LR (-1.58° ± 3.42°) was present in DCM patients. The time delay between the left ventricular lateral wall and the base septum wall in DCM patients significantly correlated with the peak LR of the left ventricular (r = 0.409, P < 0.01; r = 0.396, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>2D-STI can be used to assess the LR in DCM patients and a clockwise LR is present in DCM patients which might be caused by the time delay between the left ventricular lateral wall and the base-septum wall.</p>