Jian He

A unique approach for the synthesis of nonstoichiometric, mesoporous molybdenum oxide (MoO 3– x ) with nanosized crystalline walls by using a soft template (PEO‐ b ‐PS) synthesis method is introduced. The as‐synthesized mesoporous MoO 3– x is very active and stable (durability > 12 h) for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under both acidic and alkaline conditions. The intrinsic MoO 3 serves as an HER electrocatalyst without the assistance of carbon materials, noble metals, or MoS 2 materials. The results from transmission electron microscopy and N 2 sorption techniques show that the as‐synthesized mesoporous MoO 3– x has large accessible pores (20–40 nm), which are able to facilitate mass transport and charge transfer during HER. In terms of X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, temperature‐programmed oxidation, and diffusive reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy, the mesoporous MoO 3– x exhibits mixed oxidation states (Mo 5+ , Mo 6+ ) and an oxygen‐deficient structure. The as‐synthesized MoO 3– x only requires a low overpotential (≈0.14 V) to achieve a 10 mA cm −2 current density in 0.1 m KOH and the Tafel slope is as low as 56 mV dec −1 . Density functional theory calculations demonstrate a change of electronic structure and the possible reaction pathway of HER. Oxygen vacancies and mesoporosity serve as key factors for excellent performance.

We report a facile synthetic protocol to prepare mesoporous FeS2 without the aid of hard template as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The mesoporous FeS2 materials with high surface area were successfully prepared by a sol–gel method following a sulfurization treatment in an H2S atmosphere. A remarkable HER catalytic performance was achieved with a low overpotential of 96 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm–2 and a Tafel slope of 78 mV per decade under alkaline conditions (pH 13). The theoretical calculations indicate that the excellent catalytic activity of mesoporous FeS2 is attributed to the exposed (210) facets. The mesoporous FeS2 material might be a promising alternative to the Pt-based electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Cancer-induced immune responses affect tumour progression and therapeutic response. In multiple murine models and clinical datasets, we identified large variations of neutrophils and macrophages that define ‘immune subtypes’ of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), including neutrophil-enriched (NES) and macrophage-enriched subtypes (MES). Different tumour-intrinsic pathways and mutual regulation between macrophages (or monocytes) and neutrophils contribute to the development of a dichotomous myeloid compartment. MES contains predominantly macrophages that are CCR2-dependent and exhibit variable responses to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). NES exhibits systemic and local accumulation of immunosuppressive neutrophils (or granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells), is resistant to ICB, and contains a minority of macrophages that seem to be unaffected by CCR2 knockout. A MES-to-NES conversion mediated acquired ICB resistance of initially sensitive MES models. Our results demonstrate diverse myeloid cell frequencies, functionality and potential roles in immunotherapies, and highlight the need to better understand the inter-patient heterogeneity of the myeloid compartment. Kim et al. demonstrate neutrophil- and macrophage-enriched subtypes in triple-negative breast cancer and how these immune profiles affect therapeutic responses to immune checkpoint blockade.

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles were synthesized from a single precursor and applied for explosives detection.

Although ultrasmall metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as radiosensitizers to enhance the local damage to tumor tissues while reducing injury to the surrounding organs, their rapid clearance from the circulatory system and the presence of hypoxia within the tumor continue to hamper their further application in radiotherapy (RT). In this study, we report a size tunable nanocluster bomb with a initial size of approximately 33 nm featuring a long half-life during blood circulation and destructed to release small hypoxia microenvironment-targeting NPs (∼5 nm) to achieve deep tumor penetration. Hypoxic profiles of solid tumors were precisely imaged using NP-enhanced computed tomography (CT) with higher spatial resolution. Once irradiated with a 1064 nm laser, CT-guided, local photothermal ablation of the tumor and production of radical species could be achieved simultaneously. The induced radical species alleviated the hypoxia-induced resistance and sensitized the tumor to the killing efficacy of radiation in Akt-mTOR pathway-dependent manner. The therapeutic outcome was assessed in animal models of orthotopical breast cancer and pancreatic cancer, supporting the feasibility of our combinational treatment in hypoxic tumor management.

A direct and effective approach is proposed to fabricate bimetallic phosphide Ni2P–Cu3P with controllable phase composition and distribution for catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Unlike previously reported precursors, a porous Ni–Cu alloy incorporated with graphitic carbon (NiCuC) prepared via powder metallurgy is employed herein, and the generated Ni2P–Cu3P@NiCuC possesses a hierarchical porous structure and controllable phase composition due to the high porosity and tunable Ni/Cu ratio of the precursor. With an optimal Cu content of 30.0 wt %, the catalyst demonstrates the highest catalytic activity due to a synergistic interaction between different metallic phosphide sites and the facilitated mass transport. Meanwhile, density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that the atomic interaction of Ni2P–Cu3P substantially lower the activation barrier for enhanced HER catalytic activity. The powder metallurgy provides an approach for the design of bimetallic phosphide electrocatalysts for HER and other catalytic applications.

Due to the inability to spontaneously heal and vulnerability to bacterial infection, diabetic patients are frustrated by unexpected epithelium injuries in daily life. Notably, a drug-resistant bacterial infection may result in a long-term impact to the natural function of damaged organs. It is imperative to develop strategies that promote injury recovery and eradicate drug-resistant infection simultaneously. Here, we present a composite structured cupriferous hollow nanoshell (AuAgCu2O NS) that consists of a hollow gold–silver (AuAg) core and Cu2O shell as a photothermal therapeutic agent for a cutaneous chronic wound and nonhealing keratitis with drug-resistant bacterial infection. The controllable photothermal therapeutic effect and released silver ion from the hollow AuAg core possess a synergistic effect to eradicate multi-drug-resistant bacteria, including extended-spectrum β-lactamase Escherichia coli (ESBL E. coli) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Meanwhile, the released copper ion from the Cu2O shell could expedite endothelial cell angiogenesis and fibroblast cell migration, thus boosting wound-healing effects. In both infection-complicated disease models, the ophthalmic clinical score, wound closure rates, and histopathology analysis demonstrate that the AuAgCu2O NSs could facilitate the re-epithelialization at the wound area and eliminate the complicated bacterial infection from diabetic mice. A primary signal path involved in the promoted healing effect was further illustrated by comprehensive assays of immunohistochemical evaluation, Western blot, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Taken together, our AuAgCu2O NSs are shown to be potent candidates for clinical utilization in the treatment of diabetic epithelium injuries.

Abstract Biohybrid microswimmers have recently shown to be able to actively perform in targeted delivery and in vitro biomedical applications. However, more envisioned functionalities of the microswimmers aimed at in vivo treatments are still challenging. A photosynthetic biohybrid nanoswimmers system (PBNs), magnetic engineered bacteria‐ Spirulina platensis , is utilized for tumor‐targeted imaging and therapy. The engineered PBNs is fabricated by superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 NPs) via a dip‐coating process, enabling its tumor targeting ability and magnetic resonance imaging property after intravenous injection. It is found that the PBNs can be used as oxygenerator for in situ O 2 generations in hypoxic solid tumors through photosynthesis, modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME), thus improving the effectiveness of radiotherapy (RT). Furthermore, the innate chlorophyll released from the RT‐treated PBNs, as a photosensitizer, can produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species under laser irradiation to achieve photodynamic therapy. Excellent tumor inhibition can be realized by the combined multimodal therapies. The PBNs also possesses capacities of chlorophyll‐based fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging, which can monitor the tumor therapy and tumor TME environment. These intriguing properties of the PBNs provide a promising microrobotic platform for TME hypoxic modulation and cancer theranostic applications.

Hypoxia, which frequently reduces the sensitivity to many therapeutic interventions, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and phototherapy, has been acknowledged as an important reason for poor prognosis. Burgeoning evidences have proved that the tumor hypoxia microenvironment can reduce the therapeutic effect on tumor through inhibiting the drug efficacy, limiting immune cell infiltration of tumors and accelerating tumor recurrence and metastasis. However, the relationship between oxygen supply and the proliferation of cancer cells is still ambiguous and argued. Different from the current commonly used oxygen supply strategies, this study concentrated on the reduction of endogenous oxygen consumption. Specifically, a novel photosensitizers (IR780) and metformin are packaged in PEG-PCL liposomes. Once such nanoparticles accumulated in tumor tissues, the tumor foci were irradiated through 808 nm laser, generated ROS to further release metformin and IR780. Metformin can directly inhibit the activity of complex Ⅰ in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, thus performed a potent inhibitor of cell respiration. After overcoming tumor hypoxia, the combination of mitochondria-targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermic therapy (PTT) via IR780 may achieve superior synergistically therapeutic efficacy. Benefit from excellent characteristics of IR780, such synergistic PDT PTT with the inhibition of mitochondrial respiration can be monitored through near-infrared/photoacoustic dual-modal imaging. Such a conception of reducing endogenous oxygen consumption may offer a novel way to solve the important puzzles of hypoxia-induced tumor resistance to therapeutic interventions, not limited to phototherapy.

Chronic infections, caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, constitute a serious problem yet often underappreciated in clinical practice. The in situ monitoring of the bacteria-infected disease is also necessary to track and verify the therapeutic effect. Herein we present a facile approach to overcome the above challenges through a Raman tag 3,3′-diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide (DTTC)-conjugated gold-silver nanoshells (AuAgNSs). With a strong responsive of the near-infrared laser due to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) from hybrid metallic nanoshell structure, AuAgNSs exhibits an efficient photothermal effect, and it simultaneously releases silver ions during laser irradiation to bacterial eradicate. Herein, two MDR bacteria strain, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended-spectrum β-lactamase Escherichia coli, are chosen as models and studied both in vitro and in vivo. As a result, the AuAgNSs-DTTC substrates enable surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging to provide a non-invasive and extremely high sensitive detection (down to 300 CFU mL−1 for MRSA) and prolonged tracking (at least 8 days) of residual bacteria. In a chronic MRSA-infected wound mouse model, the AuAgNSs gel-mediated photothermal therapy/silver-release leads to a synergistic would healing with negligible toxicity or collateral damage to vital organs. These results suggest that AuAgNSs-DTTC is a promising anti-bacterial tool for clinical translation.

Design of innovative strategies for oral drug delivery is particularly promising for intestinal disease treatment. However, many obstacles such as poor therapeutic efficacy and low bioavailability and biocompatibility remain to be addressed. Here, we report a versatile formulation based on a helical-shaped cyanobacterium, Spirulina platensis (SP), loaded with curcumin (SP@Curcumin) for the treatment of colon cancer and colitis, two types of intestinal diseases. In radiotherapy for colon cancer, SP@Curcumin could mediate combined chemo- and radiotherapy to inhibit tumor progression while acting as a radioprotector to scavenge reactive oxygen species induced by the high dose of x-ray radiation in healthy tissues. SP@Curcumin could also reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines and thereby exerted anti-inflammatory effects against colitis. The oral drug delivery system not only leveraged the biological properties of microalgal carriers to improve the bioavailability of loaded drugs but also performed excellent antitumor and anti-inflammation efficacy for intestinal disease treatment.

Protecting the whole small intestine from radiation-induced intestinal injury during the radiotherapy of abdominal or pelvic solid tumors remains an unmet clinical need. Amifostine is a promising selective radioprotector for normal tissues. However, its oral application in intestinal radioprotection remains challenging. Herein, we use microalga Spirulina platensis as a microcarrier of Amifostine to construct an oral delivery system. The system shows comprehensive drug accumulation and effective radioprotection in the whole small intestine that is significantly superior to free drug and its enteric capsule, preventing the radiation-induced intestine injury and prolonging the survival without influencing the tumor regression. It also shows benefits on the gut microbiota homeostasis and long-term safety. Based on a readily available natural microcarrier, this work presents a convenient oral delivery system to achieve effective radioprotection for the whole small intestine, providing a competitive strategy with great clinical translation potential.

W18O49-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are limited by the easily oxidized property and tumor hypoxia. Here, we report the development of platelet membranes as nanocarriers to co-load W18O49 nanoparticles (NPs) and metformin (PM-W18O49-Met NPs). Platelet membranes can protect W18O49 from oxidation and immune evasion, and increase the accumulation of W18O49 in tumor sites via the passive EPR effect and active adhesion between platelets and cancer cells. The introduction of metformin (Met), a typical anti-diabetic drug, can alleviate the tumor hypoxia through reducing oxygen consumption. As a result, ROS and heat generation are both greatly increased, as revealed by ROS/hypoxia imaging in vitro, IR thermal imaging in vivo and PET imaging in vivo. PM-W18O49-Met NPs show the improved therapeutic effects with greatly inhibited tumor growth and induced tumor cell apoptosis. Therefore, our work provides a novel strategy for simultaneous enhanced PDT and PTT, which is promising in bioapplication. W18O49-mediated photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy are limited by the poor delivery of nanoparticles to tumors, the easily oxidized property, and tumor hypoxia environment, which will induce tumor treatment failure. Herein, we report the development of platelet membranes as nanocarriers to co-load W18O49 nanoparticles and metformin (PM-W18O49-Met NPs). Platelet membranes can protect W18O49 from oxidation and immune evasion, and increase the accumulation of W18O49 in tumor sites via the passive EPR effect and active adhesion. Metformin can alleviate the tumor hypoxia through reducing oxygen consumption. Hence, ROS and heat generation are both greatly increased. PM-W18O49-Met NPs show the improved therapeutic effects with greatly inhibited tumor growth and induced apoptosis. Therefore, our work provides a novel strategy in bioapplication.

Precise diagnosis of lymph node metastasis to guide lymphadenectomy is highly important for gastric cancer therapy in clinics. Though surgical dissection of regional metastatic lymph nodes remains the only way for gastric cancer therapy, the extended dissection may cause unavoidable postoperative risk of complications. It is still lack of effective method enabling the accurate removal of metastatic gastric cancer cells in lymph nodes with minimum injuries to normal tissue. Herein, we report a new fluorescent copper sulfide (CuS) nanoparticle (RGD-CuS-Cy5.5) enabling both non-invasive multimodality imaging and targeting photothermal therapy (PTT) of metastatic gastric cancer cells in lymph nodes. We demonstrate that RGD-CuS-Cy5.5 can easily drain into sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) after injection into primary tumors, and selectively enter into metastatic gastric MNK45 tumor cells via αvβ3 integrin-mediated endocytosis. The resulting strong near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence and computed tomography (CT) contrast in metastatic SLN compared to normal SLN can precisely differentiate SLN metastasis of gastric cancers. Guided by the imaging, localized PTT with RGD-CuS-Cy5.5 is conducted upon irradiation with an 808 nm laser, resulting in complete removal of metastatic gastric tumor cells in SLN without obvious toxicity. Moreover, RGD-CuS-Cy5.5 can also allow for the rapid and non-invasive self-monitoring of PTT efficacy against metastatic SLNs in living mice. This study highlights the potential of using RGD-CuS-Cy5.5 for imaging-guided and targeting PTT of SLN metastasis in vivo, which may be applicable for the metastatic gastric cancer therapy in clinics. RGD-CuS-Cy5.5 nanoparticles possess NIR fluorescence and CT signals for in vivo bimodality imaging of lymph node metastasis. Strong photothermal property under irradiation at 808 nm for efficient PTT. Easy drain into sentinel lymph nodes and selective enter metastatic gastric cancer cells via αvβ3 integrin-mediated endocytosis. Rapid and non-invasive monitoring of therapeutic efficacy against lymph node metastasis.

The electrolysis of water provides a powerful pathway for the storage and conversion of clean and renewable energy. Therefore, the development of earth-abundant, inexpensive, highly efficient electrocatalysts contributes a great deal to the overall efficiency of a water electrolytic system. Here, inspired by the low charge transfer resistance of mixed-valence cations, the favorable H atom binding energy of cobalt, and high electrical conductivity of graphene, we report a facile synthesis strategy to synthesize a spinel ternary oxide material consisting of nickel, manganese, and cobalt supported on reduced graphene oxide (rGO/NMC) with further conversion into a spinel ternary sulfide via a gaseous sulfurization protocol. The rGO/NMC-312 oxide material is found to be an efficient OER electrocatalyst with an overpotential as low as 320 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm–2, which is comparable to that of the state of the art OER catalysts. In addition, when used as HER electrocatalysts, the as-converted rGO/NMC-312 sulfide materials exhibit a low overpotential of 151 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm–2, a small Tafel slope of 52 mV/decade, and a remarkable long-term stability. Impressively, a voltage of 1.56 V is required to achieve a current density of 20 mA cm–2 in an alkaline medium at room temperature by applying rGO/NMC-312 oxide and sulfide as an alkaline water electrolysis anode and cathode, respectively. Our work offers a strategy to apply spinel ternary oxides and sulfides as electrocatalysts in water electrolysis.

We report on the new facile synthesis of mesoporous NiO/MnO2 in one step by modifying inverse micelle templated UCT (University of Connecticut) methods. The catalyst shows excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability for both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media after further coating with polyaniline (PANI). For electrochemical performance, the optimized catalyst exhibits a potential gap, ΔE, of 0.75 V to achieve a current of 10 mA cm–2 for the OER and −3 mA cm–2 for the ORR in 0.1 M KOH solution. Extensive characterization methods were applied to investigate the structure–property of the catalyst for correlations with activity (e.g., XRD, BET, SEM, HRTEM, FIB-TEM, XPS, TGA, and Raman). The high electrocatalytic activity of the catalyst closely relates to the good electrical conductivity of PANI, accessible mesoporous structure, high surface area, as well as the synergistic effect of the specific core–shell structure. This work opens a new avenue for the rational design of core–shell structure catalysts for energy conversion and storage applications.

Abstract Lipid overload results in lipid redistribution among metabolic organs such as liver, adipose, and muscle; therefore, the interplay between liver and other organs is important to maintain lipid homeostasis. Here, we show that liver responds to lipid overload first and sends hepatocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) targeting adipocytes to regulate adipogenesis and lipogenesis. Geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (Ggpps) expression in liver is enhanced by lipid overload and regulates EV secretion through Rab27A geranylgeranylation. Consistently, liver-specific Ggpps deficient mice have reduced fat adipose deposition. The levels of several EV-derived miRNAs in the plasma of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients are positively correlated with body mass index (BMI), and these miRNAs enhance adipocyte lipid accumulation. Thus, we highlight an inter-organ mechanism whereby the liver senses different metabolic states and sends corresponding signals to remodel adipose tissue to adapt to metabolic changes in response to lipid overload.

The inexpensive and abundant material, palygorskite, was used as a promising catalyst support to prepare Fe-Ni/Pal catalysts. Catalytic steam reforming of toluene as a biomass tar model compound over these catalysts was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor under different parameters, including reaction temperatures and S/C molar ratios. The stability and lifetime of Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite catalyst was evaluated under optimal conditions and its kinetic parameters were determined as well. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectra. The results showed that the Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite catalyst with high dispersion was successfully prepared and exhibited superior catalytic performance compared with those of the monometallic catalysts (Fe3/Palygorskite and Ni8/Palygorskite) and the bare Palygorskite. Increasing the reaction temperature from 500 °C to 700 °C was beneficial for the toluene conversion and gaseous yields. The catalytic activity of Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite varied distinctly with the increase of S/C molar ratio and reached maximum at the the S/C molar ratio of 1.0. The apparent activation energy of 41.55 kJ mol−1 and the pre-exponential factor of 1.35 × 103 m3 kg−1 h−1 were obtained for Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite in kinetic studies under optimal reaction conditions, respectively. The carbon deposition analysis of the used catalysts revealed that the formation of graphitic carbon rather than amorphous carbon was the main reason for the deactivation of Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite catalysts. When ceased the injection of steam into the reaction system, the graphitic carbon would be accelerating formed on the surface of the Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite and decreased its catalytic activity for toluene conversion. But owing to the water gas shift reaction, the catalytic activity of Fe3Ni8/Palygorskite seemed to recover gradually to its optimum.

Sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOP) have attracted a lot of attention due to their capability and adaptability in wastewater treatment. Although heterogeneous cobalt-based catalysts have been extensively studied and have emerged superior for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation, leaching of cobalt is still a major concern. Herein, we report a photo-assisted PMS activation approach using cobalt doped mesoporous iron oxide with exceptional activity and stability up to 7 cycles with very low cobalt leaching (0.5 ppm). The highest activity was obtained by 1 mol % cobalt doped mesoporous iron oxide. Orange II dye was completely degraded by the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated under visible light irradiation within 1 min. ROS were evaluated using two distinct techniques (Fluorescence probes and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR). ROS quenching experiments were also used to highlight the dominant pathway. This study correlates the structural and electronic changes induced with cobalt doping to the exceptional activity.

Perovskite materials have attracted much attention in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we report a perovskite type material LaNiO3-δ (LNO) for degradation of methyl orange (MO) azo dye in aqueous solutions under dark ambient conditions (room temperature, atmospheric pressure) without additional lights or chemical stimulants. The high degradation percentage of 5 ppm MO with 1.5 g/L LNO was 94.3% after 4 h with a stirring speed of 500 rpm. Reactions under nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide conditions were performed with efficiencies of 19.6%, 7.1%, and 96.8% respectively after 6 h to understand the mechanism. MO was shown to degrade under dark ambient condition via main intermediates, sulfanilic acid anion and N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD), by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Degradation of MO under such a mild condition is due to two synergic effects proposed by means of XRD, FTIR, TGA, SEM, and XPS. Nickel is oxidized during MO degradation; lanthanum carbonate (La-analog calkinsite) is formed on the LNO surface due to the aqueous solution environment and speeds up azo bond cleavage. This work unravels the mechanism behind MO degradation by LNO under dark ambient conditions for the first time. It is a fundamental information on perovskite for dye degradation, especially for lanthanum series of perovskite. Excellent perovskite materials should be tailorable for water remediation applications considering the large variety of perovskites in terms of constituents and composition.

Electrocatalysis of water is a scalable and easily available source of the production of hydrogen (H2), the future energy carrier. This drive for clean energy inspired us to develop an inexpensive, readily producible, highly active, and stable catalyst to replace current state of the art platinum catalysts. Building on the promising hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of many pyrites, their structural tuning by different metals and nonmetals has been found to be effective in several instances. We present here one such effort by partial surface selenization of mesoporous cobalt sulfide material, which displayed long-term operational stability (for at least 25 h) besides attaining a current density of 100 mA cm–2 at an overpotential of 160 mV versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) (in acidic media). A low Tafel slope (of 52 mV dec–1) and high exchange current density (j0) (of 70 μA cm–2) make our catalyst better to most existing systems. More importantly, using a variety of analytical techniques, electrochemical measurements, and theoretical calculations, we have analyzed the morphology of the material and rationalized the key to the enhanced intrinsic activity (as compared to the meso-CoS2) per active site. This study is expected to explain similar systems and modify approaches to enhancing the electrochemical activity of metal chalcogenides.

Developing new strategies to overcome biological barriers and achieve efficient delivery of therapeutic nanoparticles (NPs) is the key to achieve positive therapeutic outcomes in nanomedicine. Herein, a multistage-responsive clustered nanosystem is designed to systematically resolve the multiple tumor biological barriers conflict between the enhanced permeability retention (EPR) effect and spatially uniform penetration of the nanoparticles. The nanosystem with desirable diameter (initial size of ~50 nm), which is favorable for long blood circulation and high propensity of extravasation through tumor vascular interstices, can accumulate effectively around the tumor tissue through the EPR effect. Then, these pH-responsive nanoparticles are conglomerated to form large-sized aggregates (~1000 nm) in the tumor under the acidic microenvironment, and demonstrated great tumor retention. Subsequently, the photothermal treatment disperses the aggregates to be ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (~5 nm), thereby improving their tumor penetration ability, and enhancing the radiotherapeutic effect by radiosensitizer. In 4T1 tumor model, this nanosystem shows great tumor accumulation and penetration, and the tumor growth and the lung/liver metastasis in particle/PTT/RT treated mice is significantly inhibited. As a photoacoustic/fluorescence imaging agent and PT/RT synergistic agent, this pH-/laser-triggered size multistage-responsive nanosystem displayes both great tumor accumulation and penetration abilities, and shows excellent potential in tumor therapy.

Mesoporous manganese doped cerium oxide catalysts were prepared by an inverse micelle method with different manganese loadings. These materials exhibited superior activity for epoxidation of alkenes with molecular oxygen. Highest active 10MnCe material showed an activity of 80 % conversion and >99 % selectivity for cyclooctene epoxidation. The fluorite crystal structure which facilitates the high oxygen mobility, low temperature reducibility, homogeneous distribution of manganese on ceria, nanoparticle nature, higher number of oxygen vacancies, low valent states of manganese and cerium, and the ability to generate reactive oxygen species of the manganese doped cerium oxide could be correlated to the high catalytic activity. The reaction followed first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.31 h−1 at 100 °C, and the activation energy turned out to be 10.5 kJ/mol. The mechanistic study revealed that the reaction proceeds via a unique mechanism which involves in situ generated superoxide and singlet oxygen species.

Colorectal cancer is a common malignancy occurring in the digestive system and ranks second in cancer mortality worldwide. In colorectal cancer, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is selectively upregulated, resulting in the further exacerbation of the disease. Therefore, the clearance of H2S and the regulation of the enzymes on the H2S pathways are of great significance for colorectal cancer therapy.Here, we investigated the H2S content in various clinical tumor tissues from patients and confirmed that overproduced concentration of H2S in colorectal cancer. Accordingly, we developed an H2S-responsive nanoplatform based on zinc oxide coated virus-like silica nanoparticles (VZnO) for the therapy of colorectal cancer.Owing to its excellent H2S scavenging ability, VZnO could effectively reduce H2S content in colorectal cancer to prohibit the growth of CT26 and HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. Moreover, the removal of H2S in colorectal cancer also leads to tumor inhibition through activating ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic form of cell death. The biosafety-related toxicological and pathological analysis confirmed the low toxicity and high safety of VZnO in colorectal cancer treatment. Furthermore, as an H2S-responsible nanosystem, VZnO appears to have no therapeutic effect on other non H2S rich cancers, such as the 4T1 breast cancer model.We anticipate that the H2S-depletion-induced ferroptosis strategy using zinc oxide-based nanomaterials would provide insights in designing nanomedicines for colorectal cancer-target theranostics and may offer clinical promise.

Fungal keratitis is one of the most common blindness-causing diseases, but clinical antifungal treatment remains a challenge. The fungal cell wall and biofilm matrix which severely confine the drug preparation are the critical obstructive factors to therapeutic effects. Herein, we report ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) modified AgCu2O nanoparticles (AgCuE NPs) to disrupt the cell wall and then eradicate C. albicans through the internal cascade synergistic effects of ion-released chemotherapy, chemodynamic therapy, photodynamic therapy, and mild photothermal therapy. AgCuE NPs exhibited excellent antifungal activity both in preventing biofilm formation and in destroying mature biofilms. Furthermore, AgCuE NP based gel formulations were topically applied to kill fungi, reduce inflammation, and promote wound healing, using optical coherence tomography and photoacoustic imaging to monitor nanogel retention and therapeutic effects on the infected murine cornea model. The AgCuE NP gel showed good biosafety and no obvious ophthalmic and systemic side effects. This study suggests that the AgCuE NP gel is an effective and safe antifungal strategy for fungal keratitis with a favorable prognosis and potential for clinical translation.

The structure and thermal stability between typical Chinese kaolinite and halloysite were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy, infrared emission spectroscopy (IES) and Raman spectroscopy. Infrared emission spectroscopy over the temperature range of 300-700°C has been used to characterise the thermal decomposition of both kaolinite and halloysite. Halloysite is characterised by two bands in the water bending region at 1629 and 1648 cm(-1), attributed to structural water and coordinated water in the interlayer. Well defined hydroxyl stretching bands at around 3695, 3679, 3652 and 3625 cm(-1) are observed for both kaolinite and halloysite. The 550°C infrared emission spectrum of halloysite is similar to that of kaolinite in 650-1350 cm(-1) spectral region. The infrared emission spectra of halloysite were found to be considerably different to that of kaolinite at lower temperatures. These differences are attributed to the fundamental difference in the structure of the two minerals.

Novel heterostructured composite of few layered WS2-Bi2WO6/Bi3.84W0.16O6.24 has been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method for the first time. The obtained catalysts were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, TEM, EDS, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to certify the existence of WS2 with a few-layered structure among the heterostructured composite, and to illuminate the relationship of its performance and the structural features. Among the as-prepared catalysts, the few layered WS2-Bi2WO6/Bi3.84W0.16O6.24 composite show the best photocatalytic degradation of RhB under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of the heterostructured few layered WS2-Bi2WO6/Bi3.84W0.16O6.24 composite is attributed to the two-dimensional structure of WS2 with special properties and the matching energy band structure for efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. The formation mechanism and photocatalytic mechanism were proposed. The present work firstly combined layered TMDs with composites to prepare ternary heterostructured catalysts, which provide new ideas for obtaining novel layered TMDs-based composites with excellent performance.

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) air purification technology is reviewed based on the decades of research conducted by the United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) and their external colleagues.UTRC conducted basic research on the reaction rates of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs).The knowledge gained allowed validation of 1D and 3D prototype reactor models that guided further purifier development.Colleagues worldwide validated purifier prototypes in simulated realistic indoor environments.Prototype products were deployed in office environments both in the United States and France.As a result of these validation studies, it was discovered that both catalyst lifetime and byproduct formation are barriers to implementing this technology.Research is ongoing

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a cell-membrane-bound enzyme that is involved in various physiological and pathological processes and is regarded as a potential biomarker for many malignant tumors, precise detection of which is useful for early cancer diagnosis. Herein, a new GGT-activatable near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging probe (GANP) by linking of a GGT-recognitive substrate γ-glutamate (γ-Glu) and a NIR merocyanine fluorophore (mCy-Cl) with a self-immolative linker p-aminobenzyl alcohol (PABA) is reported. GANP was stable under physiological conditions, but could be efficiently activated by GGT to generate ≈100-fold enhanced fluorescence, enabling high sensitivity (detection limit of ≈3.6 mU L-1 ) and specificity for the real-time imaging of GGT activity as well as rapid evaluation of the inhibition efficacy of GGT inhibitors in living tumor cells. Notably, the deep tissue penetration ability of NIR fluorescence could further allow GANP to image GGT in frozen tumor tissue slices with large penetration depth (>100 μm) and in xenograft tumors in living mice. This GGT activatable NIR fluorescence imaging probe could facilitate the study and diagnosis of other GGT-correlated diseases in vivo.

We report the synthesis of mesoporous Co3O4 by an inverse micelle template self-assembly method and its catalytic activity towards selective oxidation of alkenes to epoxides. The chemical and structural properties of the materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption studies, electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The morphology of the material exhibits flower like nanoparticle aggregates. Nanoparticles are packed closely in a random manner to form the mesoporous network via connected interparticle voids. Particle size expansion could be observed with heat treatment (250 °C–450 °C), which strongly correlates with surface area of the material. Co-250, which has the highest surface area along with highest oxygen vacancies, gave the best performance in alkene epoxidation. The catalyst was found to be efficient in selective oxidation of alkenes to epoxides with a broad substrate scope and achieved >99% conversion with high selectivity (93%). Liquid phase batch mode reactions were carried out under atmospheric pressure and aerobic conditions, in the absence of any additives. Moreover the catalyst could be recycled several times without losing its activity, which makes this catalyst economical and environmentally benign.

Significance Electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to useful chemicals or fuels is critical to closing the carbon cycle and preventing further deterioration of the environment/climate. This work addresses the low-energy-efficiency problem of CO 2 reduction limited by sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the anode side. The only active OER catalysts for coupling CO 2 reduction in neutral conditions are based on noble metals such as Ir, Ru, and gold. Herein, we developed a nonprecious-metal-based OER anode with higher activity and stability than those based on noble-metal catalysts IrO 2 and Ir/C. We integrated our anode with a selective CO 2 reduction cathode to achieve >97% conversion of CO 2 to CO and a record-setting high energy efficiency for CO 2 conversion.

Magnetically separable, visible-light-driven Ni(1−x)Cu(x)Fe2O4 (Cu–Ni ferrite) photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized via a simple sol−gel precursor method. The prepared samples were characterized by a combination of various physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL). Visible-light-driven photodegradation of tetracycline (TC) was carried out to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the products. The copper doping can greatly enhance photocatalytic activity in comparison with pure NiFe2O4 for degradation of TC. The significant enhancement of photoactivity can be ascribed to the reduction of the nickel ferrite band gap and lower recombination of photoinduced electron–hole pairs by Cu2+ doping. In addition, the photocatalytic mechanism was analyzed by different active species trapping experiments. The results indicated that the h+ and OH were the main active species for photocatalytic oxidation of TC in the aqueous solution. Moreover, the Cu–Ni ferrite photocatalysts exhibit excellent photostability and recyclability properties which are beneficial for its practical application.

Pursuing cost-effective water-splitting catalysts is still a significant scientific challenge to produce renewable fuels and chemicals from various renewable feedstocks. The construction of controllable binder-free nanostructures with self-standing holey and ultrathin nanosheets is one of the promising approaches. Herein, by employing a combination of the potentiodynamic mode of electrodeposition and low-temperature phosphidation, three-dimensional (3D) holey CoP ultrathin nanosheets are fabricated on a carbon cloth (PD-CoP UNSs/CC) as bifunctional catalysts. Electrochemical tests show that the PD-CoP UNSs/CC exhibits outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction performance at all pH values with overpotentials of 47, 90, and 51 mV to approach 10 mA cm-2 in acidic, neutral, and alkaline media, respectively. Meanwhile, only a low overpotential of 268 mV is required to drive 20 mA cm-2 for the oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline media. Cyclic voltammetry and impedance studies suggest the enhanced performance is mainly attributed to the unique 3D holey ultrathin nanosheets, which could increase the electrochemically active area, facilitate the release of gas bubbles from electrode surfaces, and improve effective electrolyte diffusion. This work suggests an efficient path to design and fabricate non-noble bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting at a large scale.

Magnetically recyclable Ni/Graphene (Ni/G) nanocomposites were synthesized via an in situ reduction growth process for selective reduction of nitroarenes into corresponding azoxybenzene at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure. Here, hydrazine hydrate (N2H4⋅H2O) is used as the reducing agent which generates harmless by-products such as N2 and water. The catalyst, when used under controlled reaction conditions, exhibits a 100% conversion and selectivity to the target product without the use of any external additives (turnover number 36.2). Under the optimized conditions, a variety of structurally different nitroarenes were selectively transformed to their corresponding azoxy products in high conversions. Furthermore, a high stability and recyclability of the catalyst were also observed under the investigated conditions (93% conversion, 100% selectivity after the 4th reuse).

Theranostic nanoparticles (NPs) have recently generated substantial interest in translational cancer research due to their capabilities for multimodal diagnostic imaging and anti-cancer therapy. We herein developed cubic alpha-iron(III) oxide (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles coated with ultrasmall gold nanoseeds, abbreviated as α-Fe2O3@Au, for the synergistic treatment of radiotherapy and photothermal therapy in breast cancer. The resultant NPs, with an average diameter of 49 nm, exhibited satisfactory biosafety profiles and provided tumor contrast in T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The coating of ultrasmall Au nanoseeds exhibited strong absorption of near-infrared (NIR) laser that enabled to an efficacious photothermal therapy. It also sensitized radiotherapy, X-ray in this study, by generating large quantities of tumoricidal reactive oxygen species (ROS). Moreover, with the aid of NIR laser irradiation, the α-Fe2O3 substrate showed partial ablation and the Au NPs on its surface aggregated into a larger size (~13 nm), which has been proven to be the optimized size for radiotherapy. When tested in 4T1 murine breast cancer model, the α-Fe2O3@Au NPs significantly suppressed tumor growth (P < 0.01) when irradiated with a low-power laser (1.5 W/cm2 for 3 min) and an intermediate X-ray dose (6 Gy). Our results demonstrate that α-Fe2O3@Au, integrated with MRI, photothermal therapy, and radiosensitization, is a promising multifunctional theranostic nanomedicine for clinical applications.

With its advantages of high productivity, high pulverized coal rate, low fuel rate, and low CO2 emissions, the oxygen blast furnace (OBF) process with top gas recycling is considered as a promising ironmaking process. In this work, a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was established to simulate the transfer process and reaction behavior in an OBF with different flowrates of recycled gas. The effects of top gas recycling on in-furnace status, productivity, and energy consumption of the OBF were analyzed. The results indicated that, with an increase of the flowrate of the recycled gas in the shaft (under conditions ranging from 300 to 600 Nm3/t hot metal), the overall temperature, CO concentration, and degree of reduction in the OBF increased significantly. Comparing the performance of a traditional blast furnace with this system, the productivity of the OBF increased by 5.3%–35.3% and the energy savings reached 27.3%–35.9% when employing different criteria for energy consumption. This study may provide important perspectives for OBF application and industrial energy conservation.

Mesoporous cobalt oxides were prepared by an inverse micelle method and calcined at different temperatures. These materials exhibited superior activity for oxidation of 2-propanol as the model substrate for VOC elimination. Highest active Co3O4-350 material showed a maximum turnover frequency of 25.8 h−1 at 160 °C at a weight hourly space velocity of 60 L g-1 h−1. The apparent activation energies of mesoporous cobalt oxides ranged from 69.7 kJ/mol to 115.6 kJ/mol. In situ Diffuse Reflectance Infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) revealed that the reaction involves formation of carbonyl and carbonate species on the surface of the catalyst before complete oxidation to CO2 and H2O. The activities of the materials were correlated to better low temperature reducibility, large pore volumes, higher Co3+/ Co2+ ratios, and higher number of surface-active oxygen species.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique has been regarded as one of the most important research methods in the field of single-molecule science. Since the previous decade, the application of nanoparticles for in vivo SERS imaging becomes the focus of research. To enhance the performance of SERS imaging, researchers have developed several SERS nanotags such as gold nanostars, copper-based nanomaterials, semiconducting quantum dots, and so on. The development of Raman equipment is also necessary owing to the current limitations. This review describes the recent advances of SERS nanoparticles and their applications for in vivo imaging in detail. Specific examples highlighting the in vivo cancer imaging and treatment application of SERS nanoparticles. A perspective on the challenges and opportunities of nanoparticles in SERS in vivo imaging is also provided. This article is categorized under: Diagnostic Tools > in vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease.

Surgical resection is commonly used for therapeutic management of different solid tumors and is regarded as a primary standard of care procedure, but precise localization of tumor margins is a major intraoperative challenge. Herein, a generalized method by optimizing gold nanoparticles for intraoperative detection and photothermal ablation of tumor margins is introduced. These nanoparticles are detectable by highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering imaging. This non-invasive technique assists in delineating the two surgically challenged tumors in live mice with orthotopic colon or ovarian tumors. Any remaining residual tumors are also ablated by using post-surgical adjuvant photothermaltherapy (aPTT), which results in microscale heat generation due to interaction of these nanoparticles with near-infrared laser. Ablation of these post-operative residual micro-tumors prolongs the survival of mice significantly and delays tumor recurrence by 15 days. To validate clinical translatability of this method, the pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, Raman contrast, aPTT efficiency, and toxicity of these nanoparticles are also investigated. The nanoparticles have long blood circulation time (≈24 h), high tumor accumulation (4.87 ± 1.73%ID g-1) and no toxicity. This high-resolution and sensitive intraoperative approach is versatile and can be potentially used for targeted ablation of residual tumor after resection within different organs.

During the past two decades, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) have been intensively exploited for biological and biomedical applications. Although a series of investigations have been performed in non-primate animal models, there is few pilot studies in non-human primate animal models, strongly hindering the clinical translation of AIE luminogens (AIEgens). Herein, we present a systemic and multifaceted demonstration of an optical imaging-guided surgical operation via AIEgens from small animals (e.g., mice and rabbits) to rhesus macaque, the typical non-human primate animal model. Specifically, the folic conjugated-AIE luminogen (folic-AIEgen) generates strong and stable fluorescence for the detection and surgical excision of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). Moreover, with the superior tumor/normal tissue ratio and rapid tumor accumulation, folic-AIEgen successfully images and guides the precise resection of invisible cancerous metastases. Taken together, the presented strategies of folic-AIEgen based fluorescence intraoperative imaging and visualization-guided surgery show potential for clinical applications.

Silver-based hybrid nanoprobes for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging show their tremendous potential for precise biological detection and mediated phototherapy. However, the severe toxicity induced by Ag to normal mammalian cells hinders its further application. Herein, we presented a versatile bioinspired protein corona strategy through assembling bovine serum albumin (BSA) protected Raman tag DTTC-conjugated Ag-hybrid hollow Au nanoshells (hollow AgAu-DTTC-BSA), which their silver ion release and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation are significantly suppressed, enabling no damage to normal cells and tissues, but can be reactivated on-demand under laser-irradiation at the tumor site. These nanoshells could also produce strong localized surface plasmon resonance for efficient-stable photothermal effect and enhanced SERS activity under laser irradiation, approved by both theoretical and experimental calculations. Furthermore, the biocompatible hollow AgAu-DTTC-BSA could detect both primary tumor tissues and tiny liver metastases (~0.18 mm) in orthotopic/subcutaneous CT26 colon tumor-bearing mice models. We also demonstrate their excellent therapeutic efficacy for colorectal solid neoplasms by accurate SERS imaging-guided photothermal therapy, simultaneously assisted with toxic Ag ion and ROS. These results suggest that hollow AgAu-DTTC-BSA is promising imaging assisted photothermal agents for solid tumor theranostics and enhancing the potential of Ag-based nanoparticles for practical treatment.

<h3>Objective</h3> Different grades of meningiomas require different treatment strategies and have a different prognosis; thus, the noninvasive classification of meningiomas before surgery is of great importance. The purpose of this study was to explore the application value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiomics based on enhanced-T1-weighted (T1WI) images in the prediction of meningiomas grade. <h3>Materials and Methods</h3> A total of 98 patients with meningiomas who were confirmed by surgical pathology and underwent preoperative routine MRI between January 2017 and December 2019 were analyzed. There were 82 cases of low-grade meningiomas (WHO grade I) and 16 cases of high-grade meningiomas (7 cases of WHO grade II and 9 cases of WHO grade III). These patients were randomly divided into a training group and test group according to 7:3 ratio. The lesions were manually delineated using ITK-SNAP software, and radiomics analysis were performed using the Analysis Kit (AK) software. A total of 396 tumor texture features were extracted. Subsequently, the LASSO algorithm was used to reduce the feature dimensions. Next, a prediction model was constructed using the Logistic Regression method and receiver operator characteristic was used to evaluate the prediction performance of the model. <h3>Results</h3> A radiomics prediction model was constructed based on the selected nine characteristic parameters, which performed well in predicting the meningiomas grade. The accuracy rates in the training group and the test group were respectively 94.3% and 92.9%, the sensitivities were respectively 94.8%, and 91.7%, the specificities were respectively 91.7% and 100%, and the area under the curve values were respectively 0.958 and 0.948. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The MRI radiomics method based on enhanced-T1WI images has a good predictive effect on the classification of meningiomas and can provide a basis for planning clinical treatment protocols.

Abstract Molecular imaging‐guided precision photothermal therapy has shown tremendous potential for invasively thermal ablation with solid tumors. However, it is still a pressing clinical need to develop precise and deep‐tissue multi‐scale imaging technologies easily integrated into a single system to boost accurate photothermal treatments. Herein, a SERS/NIR‐II optical nanoprobe assembled by gold nanostars, Raman molecular tags, and silver sulfide quantum dots through silica bridges (named AuDAg 2 S) is reported that allows the combination of the fingerprint‐style surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging and second region near‐infrared (NIR‐II) in‐depth biological fluorescence imaging. It can also yield strong localized surface plasmon resonance for a satisfactory photothermal conversion efficiency of 67.1% at 1064 nm to effectively kill CT26 colon cancer cells. Moreover, the AuDAg 2 S nanoprobes can enhance the detection sensitivity up to the picomolar level and increase the depth of the NIR‐II fluorescence signal up to 1 cm under the excitation of the near‐infrared laser. As a result, the AuDAg 2 S nanoprobes can achieve multidimensional tumor imaging in levels of living subjects, histology, and single cell, and further guided deep NIR‐II photothermal anti‐tumor therapy in vivo. This study offers a promising approach for SERS/NIR‐II whole optical imaging for deep tumor photothermal treatment in future clinical applications.

Fungal keratitis has been one of the common corneal infections that causes blindness, but an effective antifungal strategy remains a challenge. The exopolysaccharides both in the fungal cell walls and biofilms are a key that acts as a permeation barrier to weaken the therapeutic effect of antifungal agents. Herein, lyticase and gallium ions co-integrated nanosystems (MLPGa) are presented that can degrade exopolysaccharides and then effectively eradicate both planktonic Candida albicans and mature biofilms. The potential antifungal mechanism involves reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and metabolic interference of antioxidant-related genes, exopolysaccharide-related genes, iron-ion-utilization-related genes, fungal/biofilm-development-related genes, and virulence genes. Meanwhile, the Raman signals generated by the chelation between the nanosystems and the gallium ions provide a real-time visualization tool to monitor Ga release. Finally, the MLPGa-based antifungal strategy with good biocompatibility achieves a satisfactory therapeutic effect in a fungal keratitis mouse model. This study provides a unique approach to the effective treatment of fungal keratitis in clinical practice.

The increasing applications of ionizing radiation in society raise the risk of radiation-induced intestinal and whole-body injury. Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant to reduce the reactive oxygen generated from radiation and the subsequent damage. However, the oral administration of astaxanthin remains challenging owing to its low solubility and poor bioavailability. Herein, we facilely construct an orally used microalgae-nano integrated system (SP@ASXnano) against radiation-induced intestinal and whole-body injury, combining natural microalgae Spirulina platensis (SP) with astaxanthin nanoparticles (ASXnano). SP and ASXnano show complementation in drug delivery to improve distribution in the intestine and blood. SP displays limited gastric drug loss, prolonged intestinal retention, constant ASXnano release, and progressive degradation. ASXnano improves drug solubility, gastric stability, cell uptake, and intestinal absorption. SP and ASXnano have synergy in many aspects such as anti-inflammation, microbiota protection, and fecal short-chain fatty acid up-regulation. In addition, the system is ensured with biosafety for long-term administration. The system organically combines the properties of microalgae and nanoparticles, which was expected to expand the medical application of SP as a versatile drug delivery platform.

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary ocular tumor owing to its highly invasive and metastatic characteristics. Currently, standard clinical treatment has an unsatisfied curative effect due to the lack of an effective approach to inhibit the tumor metastasis. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new strategy that can both restraint local tumors and suppress the ocular tumor metastasis. Herein, we developed ultrasound-responsive nanoparticles (FeP NPs) that can both hinder the growth of in situ ocular tumor and prevent the tumor metastasis through the ferroptosis-apoptosis combined-anticancer strategy. The FeP NPs were assembling by stimulating gallic acid-Fe (III) and paclitaxel, then could be internalized into tumor cells under the cooperative effect of ultrasound, which further activates the intracellular Fenton reaction and generates high reactive oxygen species levels, ultimately leading to mitochondrial damage, lipid per-oxidation, and apoptosis. The FeP NPs can efficiently inhibit the tumor growth in an orthotopic uveal melanoma model. More importantly, the level of the promoting-metastatic factor nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) secreted by cancer cells is significantly reduced, further limits cancer metastasis to the cervical lymph node and finally inhibits lung metastasis of uveal melanoma. We believe that these designed ultrasound-enhanced nanoparticles possess potential clinical application for preventing the regeneration and metastasis of uveal melanoma.

A retrospective imaging study of 73 patients who underwent surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) between April 2005 and July 2007.To investigate whether magnetic resonance (MR) T2 image signal intensity (SI) ratio and clinical manifestation can assess the prognosis in patients with CSM.The association between intramedullary high SI on T2-weighted MR images and surgical outcome in CSM remains controversial. The means of quantizing SI ratio for the disease has not been discussed.A total of 73 patients with cervical compressive myelopathy were retrospectively enrolled and were treated with anterior, posterior, and posterior-anterior united decompression. A total of 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging was performed in all patients before surgery. T2-weighted images of sagittal increased SI on the cervical spinal cord were obtained, and the regions of interest (ROIs) are taken by 0.05 cm. T2-weighted MR images of sagittal normal cord SI on the cervical between C7-T1 disc levels were obtained, and the ROIs are taken by 0.3 cm. SI value is measured by computer, and the SI ratio between the regions 0.05 cm and 0.3 cm has been calculated. If no intramedullary high SI was noted on T2-weighted MR images, the ROIs were taken by 0.05 cm of the severe compression cord. All patients had been divided into 3 groups by hierarchical clustering analysis with SI ratio (Group 1: low SI ratio, Group 2: middle SI ratio, and Group 3: high SI ratio). Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 11.0.There are significant differences between 3 groups by comparing the recovery rate (P < 0.001), age (P = 0.003), duration of disease (P = 0.001), Babinski sign (P < 0.001), preoperative JOA score (P = 0.006), and postoperative JOA score (P < 0.001). There are no significant differences on sex among 3 groups (P = 0.387). By using the multiple comparison analysis, the above results are further shown.Patients with low SI ratio who were not too old and had a shorter duration of disease experienced a good surgical outcome. However, with the increase of SI ratio and the occurrence of pyramidal sign, a poor prognosis after surgery will show. SI ratio and clinical manifestation can be a predictor of surgical outcome.

Designing high accuracy in the diagnosing and fault-freely eliminating lymphatic metastasis of breast malignancy, to avoid the invasiveness and complications caused by traditional assays, is of great therapeutic importance. To this end, theranostic W18O49 nanoparticles targeting to human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER-2) over-expressed breast malignancy were synthesized via polyol method. By taking advantage of their high X-ray attenuating and photothermotherapy potency, lymph nodes in the mice bearing HER-2 positive metastasis could be clearly distinguished under CT guidance and selectively eliminated by laser ablation. The therapeutic efficacy was further confirmed by the significantly extended survival period. These finding evidenced the potential of these nanoparticles for imaging guided photothermal ablation of HER-2 positive breast malignancy.

Cyclohexanol is an excellent starting material for fuel production, but direct selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanol under mild conditions is a challenge. Herein we report a catalyst made of Ni nanoparticles supported on high-surface silica, which is highly active for selective formation of cyclohexanol under 1.0 Mpa pressure of hydrogen in aqueous medium without additives. Conversion of 100 mol% and selectivity up to 100% are achieved within 4 h and 1.0 MPa H2. Some factors such as the type of the source of silica, the loading of Ni, the reaction temperature and time, the H2 pressure play important roles in controlling the selective hydrogenation. The generality of the 10%Ni/SiO2-1 catalyst for this reaction is demonstrated by selective hydrogenation of other hydroxylated aromatic compounds as well.

Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MR imaging has been applied in researches of various diseases, however its potential in cervical cancer patients has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of IVIM MR imaging to monitor early treatment response in patients receiving concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT) for advanced cervical cancers.Twenty-one patients receiving CCRT for advanced cervical cancer were prospectively enrolled. MR examinations including IVIM imaging (with 14 b values, 0 ~ 1000 s/mm(2)) were performed at 4 time points: 1-week prior to, 2-week and 4-week during, as well as immediately post CCRT (within 1 week). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were derived from the mono-exponential model, while the diffusion coefficient (D), perfusion fraction (f) and pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*) maps were calculated from the bi-exponential model. Dynamic changes of ADC, D, f and D* in cervical cancers were investigated as early surrogate markers for treatment response.ADC and D values increased throughout the CCRT course. Both f and D* increased in the first 2 to 3 weeks of CCRT and started to decrease around 4 weeks of CCRT. Significant increase of f value was observed from prior to CCRT (f 1 = 0.12 ± 0.52) to two-week during CCRT (f2 = 0.20 ± 0.90, p = 0.002).IVIM MR imaging has the potential in monitoring early tumor response induced by CCRT in patients with cervical cancers.

This study deals with the development and exploration of new zeolite-type materials with mesoporosity for siloxane adsorption. The mesopores in the adsorbents are preferred for adsorption of relatively large siloxanes, such as octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) (∼10 Å). Mesoporous aluminosilicate (UCT-15) is a zeolite-type material in the family of mesoporous oxide materials developed at the University of Connecticut (UCT). In this study, UCT-15 materials are synthesized, using different aluminum dopant amounts and calcination heating rates to obtain tunable textural properties. The synthesized materials are applied in biogas cleanup, particularly the adsorption of siloxane D4. Under room temperature and 1.79 mg/h D4 feed rate, the best adsorption performance (105 mg/g adsorption capacity) is found for mesoporous aluminosilicate synthesized with a Si:Al = 5 and a 10 °C/min calcination heating rate, because of its large BET surface area, external surface area, mesopore volume, and total pore volume. In the best case scenario, more than twice the amount of D4 is adsorbed by the synthesized mesoporous aluminosilicate, compared with commercial ZSM-5. Moreover, the external surface area and mesopore volume are the most influential adsorbent textual properties that affect the adsorption capacity. Furthermore, polymerization of the adsorbed D4 is investigated and attributed to the adsorbent surface hydroxyl groups.

Ultrasmall sized renal clearable nanoparticles are promising nanomaterials for cancer diagnostic and therapeutic treatments owing to their efficient clearance characteristics and feasible therapeutic effects. However, to integrate multifunction and keep ultrasmall size (<6 nm) of the nanoparticles simultaneously is a great challenge for the synthesis of renal clearable nanoparticles. In this manuscript, we engineered an ultrasmall (4.95 nm) triple-modal imaging platform by chelate-free doping of manganese2+ (Mn2+) and 68gallium3+ (Ga3+) into the matrix of copper sulfide (CuS) nanodots (NDs) using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the synthetic template. The resulting Mn/68[email protected] nanodots proved to be an excellent contrast agent for magnetic resonance (MR), positron emission tomography (PET), and photoacoustic (PAT) imaging. All three imaging modalities confirmed that Mn/[email protected] NDs could be efficiently cleared via the renal-urinary route of intravenous injection, therefore effectively minimized its toxicity to non-tumor organs. In addition, Mn/68[email protected] NDs functioned as a potent mediator for the near-infrared (NIR) laser-induced photothermal therapy (PTT), and significantly suppressed tumor growth in the SKOV-3 ovarian tumor model. Our results demonstrated that renal clearable inorganic nanoparticles with multiple imaging and therapeutic capabilities are robust platforms to battle cancer.

A mesoporous, monomodal copper aluminum mixed metal oxide (MMO) (average pore size 9.63 nm, surface area 140 m2/g) synthesized via a modified inverse micelle method, efficiently catalyzes aerobic oxidative coupling of amines to imines. This material exhibits excellent conversion (>99%) and selectivity (>99%) towards imine synthesis under mild, solvent free, green conditions utilizing atmospheric air as the sole oxidant. Catalytic activity is observed for a diverse range of amine substrates. The aerobic oxidation of amines to imines follows a unique mechanistic pathway which involves Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).

Abstract Patients with obesity have a high prevalence of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and, in parallel, increased susceptibility to fibrosis/cirrhosis/hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, we report that a high‐fat diet (HFD) can augment glycolysis and then accelerate NAFLD–fibrosis progression by downregulating the expression of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGPPS), which is a critical enzyme in the mevalonate pathway. Long‐term HFD overloading decreases GGPPS expression in mice, which shifts the fuel preference from fatty acids towards glucose. Liver‐specific Ggpps deficiency drives the Warburg effect by impairing mitochondrial function, and then induces hepatic inflammation, thus exacerbating fibrosis. Ggpps deficiency also enhances the hyperfarnesylation of liver kinase B1, and promotes metabolic reprogramming by regulating 5′‐AMP‐activated protein kinase activity. Clinical data further imply that GGPPS expression can predict the stage of NAFLD and recurrence of NAFLD‐associated HCC. We conclude that the level of GGPPS is a susceptibility factor for NAFLD–fibrosis progression, and requires more stringent surveillance to ensure early prediction and precision of treatment of NAFLD‐related HCC. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

This prospective study explored the application of texture features extracted from T2WI and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps in predicting recurrence of advanced cervical cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). We included 34 patients with advanced cervical cancer who underwent pelvic MR imaging before, during and after CCRT. Radiomic feature extraction was performed by using software at T2WI and ADC maps. The performance of texture parameters in predicting recurrence was evaluated. After a median follow-up of 31 months, eleven patients (32.4%) had recurrence. At four weeks after CCRT initiated, the most textural parameters (four T2 textural parameters and two ADC textural parameters) showed significant difference between the recurrence and nonrecurrence group (P values range, 0.002~0.046). Among them, RunLengthNonuniformity (RLN) from T2 and energy from ADC maps were the best selected predictors and together yield an AUC of 0.885. The support vector machine (SVM) classifier using ADC textural parameters performed best in predicting recurrence, while combining T2 textural parameters may add little value in prognosis. T2 and ADC textural parameters have potential as non-invasive imaging biomarkers in early predicting recurrence in advanced cervical cancer treated with CCRT.

Abstract Triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a kind of aggressive malignancy with fast metastatic behavior. Herein, a nanosystem loaded with a near‐infrared (NIR) agent is developed to achieve chemo‐photothermal combination therapy for inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis in TNBC. The NIR agent of ultrasmall sized copper sulfide nanodots with strong NIR light‐absorbing capability is entrapped into the doxorubicin‐contained temperature‐sensitive polymer‐based nanosystem by a self‐assembled method. The temperature sensitive nanoclusters (TSNCs) can significantly enhance the drug penetration depth and significantly kill the cancer cells under the near‐infrared laser irradiation. Importantly, it is plausible that the tumor penetrating nanosystem combined with NIR laser irradiation can prevent lung and liver metastasis via extermination of the cancer stem cells. The in vivo characteristics, evaluated by photoacoustic imaging, pharmacokinetics, and biodistribution, confirm their feasibility for tumor treatment owing to their long blood circulation time and high tumor uptake. Thanks to the high tumor uptake and highly potent antitumor efficacy, the doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity can be avoided when the TSNC is used. Taken together, it is believed that the nanosystem has excellent potential for clinical translation.

Manganese oxide (OMS-2), a promising exhaust treatment catalyst, has been successfully integrated onto the channel wall surfaces of cordierite honeycombs in the form of a nanoarray forest. To further improve their catalytic carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation activity, a series of different metal oxide nanocoatings were uniformly grown on the surface of OMS-2 nanoarrays by utilizing a facile and fast microwave-assisted synthesis method. The manganese-cobalt oxide core-shell nanoarray based monolithic catalysts exhibit the highest catalytic performance with a 100% CO conversion at 150 °C, in a sharp contrast with 325 °C for the bare OMS-2 nanoarrays. Different growth mechanisms of the layered Co(OH)2 and spinel Co3O4 induced by different cobalt precursors are used to explain the morphology evolution of the manganese-cobalt oxide core-shell nanoarrays. The Co3+ distributed on the surface of the nanoarrays acts as the active sites for CO oxidation. The small grain size, abundant surface-adsorbed oxygen, and interfacial effects between MnO2 and Co3O4 were found to favor the observed high catalytic activity. A thermal annealing study showed that high temperature induces the sintering of the nanoarray catalyst, which further affects the CO oxidation activity. This fast, cost-effective, and scalable method will provide a new route for synthesizing efficient core-shell nanoarray monolithic catalysts for low temperature catalysis.

Abstract Stem cell therapy has been used as a potential approach for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) over the last two decades. Imaging cellular behaviors of the transplanted stem cells with deep tissue penetration and high precision imaging modalities is crucial for the clinical translation of stem cell therapy approaches for MI. Herein, a gold nanostar (Au‐Star) based second near‐infrared window (NIR‐II) fluorescence/surface enhanced Raman scattering dual‐modal imaging probe (gold nanostar‐3.3′‐diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide‐silver sulfide nanoparticles, Au‐Star‐DTTC‐Ag 2 S NPs, GDS NPs) is designed for labeling and precise tracking of the stem cells. The Ag 2 S compartment generates strong NIR‐II emission, which compensates for the deficiencies of bioluminescent imaging and enables the dynamic observation of in vivo cellular behavior. Subsequently, the specific Raman signal of Au‐Star‐DTTC compartment enables high‐resolution imaging, which could effectively delineate stem cells from the surrounding normal tissues, even at a single‐cell resolution. Using this imaging and tracking approach, it is able to track stem cells in hypodermic and MI models, with high resolution and depth‐independent imaging capabilities, which have not been reported in any other cell tracking platform. This two‐armed imaging toolkit offers new opportunities for a wide range of mechanistic stem cell therapy investigations in different organs.

Early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) may improve the prognosis of patients. This study was to identify metabolic features of PDAC and to discover early detection biomarkers for PDAC by tissue and serum metabolomics analysis.We conducted nontargeted metabolomics analysis in tissue samples of 51 PDAC tumors, 40 noncancerous pancreatic tissues (NT), and 14 benign pancreatic neoplasms (BP) as well as serum samples from 80 patients with PDAC, 36 with BP, and 48 healthy controls (Ctr). The candidate metabolites identified from the initial analysis were further quantified using targeted analysis in serum samples of an independent cohort of 22 early stage PDAC, 27 BP, and 27 Ctr subjects. Unconditional binary logistic regression analysis was used to construct the optimal model for PDAC diagnosis.Upregulated levels of fatty acids and lipids and downregulated amino acids were observed in tissue and serum samples of PDAC patients. Proline, creatine, and palmitic acid were identified as a panel of potential biomarkers to distinguish PDAC from BP and Ctr (odds ratio = 2.17, [95% confidence interval 1.34-3.53]). The three markers showed area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of 0.854 and 0.865, respectively, for the comparison of PDAC versus Ctr and PDAC versus BP. The AUCs were 0.830 and 0.852 in the validation set and were improved to 0.949 and 0.909 when serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) was added to the model.The novel metabolite biomarker panel identified in this study exhibited promising performance in distinguishing PDAC from BP or Ctr, especially in combination with CA19-9.

Thermogravimetric analysis–mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize eight kaolinite samples from China. The results show that the thermal decomposition occurs in three main steps (a) desorption of water below 100 °C, (b) dehydration at about 225 °C and (c) well defined dehydroxylation at around 450 °C. It is also found that decarbonization took place at 710 °C due to the decomposition of calcite impurity in kaolin. The temperature of dehydroxylation of kaolinite is found to be influenced by the degree of disorder of the kaolinite structure and the gases evolved in the decomposition process can be various because of the different amount and kinds of impurities. It is evident by the mass-spectra that the interlayer carbonate from impurity of calcite and organic carbon is released as CO2 around 225, 350 and 710 °C in the kaolinite samples.

Hydrophobic ZnSe:Mn/ZnS core-shell fluorescence quantum dots (QDs) and anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) have been co-loaded into folate conjugated hybrid silica nanocapsules via F127 micelles based soft-template method in a mild aqueous environment at room temperature. The encapsulation of QDs shows a F127: QDs mass ratio dependent behavior, which impact much on the morphology and optical properties of composite nanocapsules. These as prepared composite nanocapsules also exhibit good photoluminescence stability under the temperature ranges from 19 °C to 49 °C. In addition, the aqueous solubility of PTX (0.1 μg/mL) can be efficiently enhanced about 630 times to 62.99 μg/mL, and the loaded PTX could be released during 12 h sustainably. These tunable fluorescence, enhanced drug loading efficiency and sustained release behavior manifest that the hybrid nanocapsule is a promising theranostic nanoplatform for future combined fluorescence imaging and chemotherapy.

Two ternary mixed oxides, Ru-Mn-Ce and Ru-Co-Ce, were prepared by a co-precipitation method and used in the aerobic oxidation of alcohols to corresponding aldehydes (ketones). Interestingly, different catalytic results were obtained when these compounds were calcined. The calcination temperature had an adverse effect on the catalytic performance of Ru-Mn-Ce catalysts, while being beneficial to the Ru-Co-Ce catalysts. To illustrate these effects, these materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and other techniques. The data showed that ruthenium oxides were uniformly dispersed in the mixed oxides, and phase transformations occur after calcination. Mn3O4 was transformed to MnO2 for the Ru-Mn-Ce catalyst, while CoO(OH) was transformed to Co3O4 in the Ru-Co-Ce catalyst. The interactions between ruthenium oxides and Co (Mn)-Ce mixed oxides of the former strengthened while the latter weakened. Calcination decreased the content of adsorbed oxygen and restricted oxygen transfer mechanism in the manganese system, while the opposite effect was observed with the cobalt-containing catalyst. Under optimal reaction conditions, various kinds of alcohols were transformed to corresponding aldehydes (ketones) in high yields over the Ru-Mn-Ce catalyst suggesting these ternary oxides are environmental friendly and economical catalytic systems.

Abstract The increasing demand of emerging technologies for high energy density electrochemical storage has led many researchers to look for alternative anode materials to graphite. The most promising conversion and alloying materials do not yet possess acceptable cycle life or rate capability. In this work, we use tin oxide, SnO 2 , as a representative anode material to explore the influence of graphene incorporation and In-doping to increase the electronic conductivity and concomitantly improve capacity retention and cycle life. It was found that the incorporation of In into SnO 2 reduces the charge transfer resistance during cycling, prolonging life. It is also hypothesized that the increased conductivity allows the tin oxide conversion and alloying reactions to both be reversible, leading to very high capacity near 1200 mAh/g. Finally, the electrodes show excellent rate capability with a capacity of over 200 mAh/g at 10C.

Purpose Microvascular invasion (MVI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cannot be accurately predicted preoperatively. This study aimed to establish a predictive scoring model of MVI in solitary HCC patients without macroscopic vascular invasion. Methods A total of 309 consecutive HCC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy were divided into the derivation (n = 206) and validation cohort (n = 103). A predictive scoring model of MVI was established according to the valuable predictors in the derivation cohort based on multivariate logistic regression analysis. The performance of the predictive model was evaluated in the derivation and validation cohorts. Results Preoperative imaging features on CECT, such as intratumoral arteries, non-nodular type of HCC and absence of radiological tumor capsule were independent predictors for MVI. The predictive scoring model was established according to the β coefficients of the 3 predictors. Area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) of the predictive scoring model was 0.872 (95% CI, 0.817-0.928) and 0.856 (95% CI, 0.771-0.940) in the derivation and validation cohorts. The positive and negative predictive values were 76.5% and 88.0% in the derivation cohort and 74.4% and 88.3% in the validation cohort. The performance of the model was similar between the patients with tumor size ≤5 cm and >5 cm in AUROC (P = 0.910). Conclusions The predictive scoring model based on intratumoral arteries, non-nodular type of HCC, and absence of the radiological tumor capsule on preoperative CECT is of great value in the prediction of MVI regardless of tumor size.

To explore the role of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis in predicting pathologic stage of gastric cancers.Preoperative enhanced CT images of 153 patients (112 men, 41 women) with gastric cancers were reviewed retrospectively. Regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn along the margin of the lesion on the section where it appeared largest on the arterial and venous CT images, which yielded texture parameters, including mean, maximum frequency, mode, skewness, kurtosis, and entropy. Correlations between texture parameters and pathological stage were analysed with Spearman's correlation test. The diagnostic performance of CT texture parameters in differentiating different stages was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.Maximum frequency in the arterial phase and mean, maximum frequency, mode in the venous phase correlated positively with T stage, N stage, and overall stage (all p<0.05) of gastric cancer. Entropy in the venous phase also correlated positively with N stage (p=0.009) and overall stage (p=0.032). Skewness in the arterial phase had the highest area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.822 in identifying early from advanced gastric cancers. Multivariate analysis identified four parameters, including maximum frequency, skewness, entropy in the venous phase, and differentiation degree from biopsy, for predicting lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer. The multivariate model could distinguish gastric cancers with and without lymph node metastasis with an AUC of 0.892.Multiple CT texture parameters, especially those in the venous phase, correlated well with pathological stage and hold great potential in predicting lymph node metastasis of gastric cancers.

To investigate the efficacy of histogram analysis of the entire tumor volume in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps for differentiating between histological grades in gastric cancer.Seventy-eight patients with gastric cancer were enrolled in a retrospective 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. ADC maps were obtained at two different b values (0 and 1000 sec/mm2 ) for each patient. Tumors were delineated on each slice of the ADC maps, and a histogram for the entire tumor volume was subsequently generated. A series of histogram parameters (eg, skew and kurtosis) were calculated and correlated with the histological grade of the surgical specimen. The diagnostic performance of each parameter for distinguishing poorly from moderately well-differentiated gastric cancers was assessed by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).There were significant differences in the 5th , 10th , 25th , and 50th percentiles, skew, and kurtosis between poorly and well-differentiated gastric cancers (P < 0.05). There were correlations between the degrees of differentiation and histogram parameters, including the 10th percentile, skew, kurtosis, and max frequency; the correlation coefficients were 0.273, -0.361, -0.339, and -0.370, respectively. Among all the histogram parameters, the max frequency had the largest AUC value, which was 0.675.Histogram analysis of the ADC maps on the basis of the entire tumor volume can be useful in differentiating between histological grades for gastric cancer.4 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:440-449.

Cobalt doped mesoporous manganese oxide: an excellent oxidative catalyst (for producing asymmetric imines with &gt;98% selectivity) with significant reductive properties.

The CO and H2 (syngas) production from methane partial oxidation (MPO) using TiO2 supported Au-Pd bimetallic catalysts are discussed. The supported Au, Pd and Au-Pd bimetallic nanoparticles were prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation or co-impregnation method and were characterized. The supported Au-Pd catalyst was selective for reforming and was more active compared to bare TiO2, TiO2 supported Au only, or Pd only catalysts. The catalyst properties before and after MPO reaction were investigated, including the stability of the TiO2 support, and the stability of Au and Pd nanoparticles. The supported Au-Pd catalyst has the highest TON (TONH2 = 23 at 650 °C), compared to supported Au catalyst (TONH2 < 1) and supported Pd catalyst (TONH2 < 1). Based on the analysis of outlet gases from the MPO reaction in a flow reactor, synergetic effects between Au and Pd, where Pd activates CH bonds while gold modulates the behavior of oxygen at the catalyst surface, are shown to contribute to MPO. Additionally, the Au-Pd/TiO2 material shows long-term activity (>12 h) for the MPO reaction at 600 °C.

In vivo read-out of autophagy is of great therapeutic and fundamental significance, and yet being conducted exclusively in high cost transgenic animal models. As an attempt to readily monitor the autophagy flux, we herein proposed an autophagy-responsive magnetic resonance imaging based on radical-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles. In principle, both the NO· radical and Fe3O4 nanoparticles are stable, and separately contributing to an observation of enhanced T1-and T2-weighted imaging, respectively. Meanwhile, the onset of autophagy concomitantly simulates the mass production of reactive species, and consequently quenches the T1-signal of NO·. On this basis, the content of autophagy flux is reflected by the ratio of T1-signal intensity to that of T2-signal, which is condition-insensitive, as a function of time. Assisted with such strategy, an unprecedented protection role autophagy played in respond to heat stress has been revealed, through which the killing effect of magneto-hyperthermia was greatly impeded. Furthermore, we noticed that the impairment of autophagy through the sequential chemotherapy, can markedly improve the therapeutic outcome, in a manner monitored and thoroughly analyzed using the strategy reported herein. We therefore believe that such a study offers a feasible method for in vivo read-out of autophagy and gives us insights how autophagy influences the therapeutic index of cancer treatments.

Copper manganese oxide (CuMn₂O₄) was introduced into the nanoarray-based monolithic catalysts system for advanced exhaust after-treatment.

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the application of whole-lesion histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of cervical cancer. Methods A total of 54 women (mean age, 53 years) with cervical cancers underwent 3-T diffusion-weighted imaging with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm2 prospectively. Whole-lesion histogram analysis of ADC values was performed. Paired sample t test was used to compare differences in ADC histogram parameters between cervical cancers and normal cervical tissues. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to identify the optimal threshold of each parameter. Results All histogram parameters in this study including ADCmean, ADCmin, ADC10%–ADC90%, mode, skewness, and kurtosis of cervical cancers were significantly lower than those of normal cervical tissues (all P < 0.0001). ADC90% had the largest area under receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.996. Conclusions Whole-lesion histogram analysis of ADC maps is useful in the assessment of cervical cancer.

Designing a smart nanotheranostic system has recently attracted tremendous attention and is highly desirable for realizing targeted cancer therapy and early diagnosis. Herein we report the fabrication of smart nanotheranostic system using multiresponsive gatekeeping protocol of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). Acid, oxidative stress and redox sensitive manganese oxide (MnO x) coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) were employed as nanolids to regulate the camptothecin drug release from the channels of mesoporous silica and achieve responsive dual-mode MRI contrast. The nonvehicle showed high magnetization and T2 contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) due to the significant density of SPION onto the surface of MSN, and at the same time the MnO x shell degradation release Mn2+ which enhanced the T1MRI visualization. The efficacy of responsive drug delivery system was investigated on pancreatic cancer cells and tumor-bearing mice, and results reinforced that MnO x-SPION@MSN@CPT nonvehicle is efficacious against cancer cells. We envision that our unique and multiresponsive nanoplatform may find applications in effective delivering of imaging and therapeutic agents to wide range of diseases besides cancer.

To explore the role of whole-volume apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based entropy parameters in the preoperative assessment of gastric cancer's aggressiveness.In all, 64 patients with gastric cancers who underwent 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were retrospectively included. Regions of interest were drawn manually using in-house software, around gastric cancer lesions on each slice of the diffusion-weighted images and ADC maps. Entropy-related parameters based on ADC maps were calculated automatically: (1) first-order entropy; (2-5) second-order entropies, including entropy(H)0 , entropy(H)45 , entropy(H)90 , and entropy(H)135 ; (6) entropy(H)mean ; and (7) entropy(H)range . Correlations between entropy-related parameters and pathological characteristics were analyzed with the Spearman correlation test. The parameters were compared among different pathological characteristics with independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis or Mann-Whitney U-test. Additionally, diagnostic performances of parameters in differentiating different pathological characteristics were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.All the entropy-related parameters significantly correlated with T, N, and overall stages, especially the first-order entropy (r = 0.588, 0.585, and 0.677, respectively, all P < 0.05). All the entropy-related parameters showed significant differences in gastric cancers at different T, N, and overall stages, as well as at different status of vascular invasion (P < 0.001-0.027). And four parameters, including entropy, entropy(H)0 , entropy(H)45 , and entropy(H)90 , showed significant differences between gastric cancers with and without perineural invasion (P 0.006-0.040).Entropy-related parameters derived from whole-volume ADC texture analysis could help assess the aggressiveness of gastric cancers via analyzing intratumoral heterogeneity quantitatively, especially the first-order entropy.2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:168-175.

Whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis has been introduced and proved effective in assessment of multiple tumors. However, the application of whole-volume ADC histogram analysis in gastrointestinal tumors has just started and never been reported in T and N staging of gastric cancers.Eighty patients with pathologically confirmed gastric carcinomas underwent diffusion weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging before surgery prospectively. Whole-lesion ADC histogram analysis was performed by two radiologists independently. The differences of ADC histogram parameters among different T and N stages were compared with independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to evaluate the performance of ADC histogram parameters in differentiating particular T or N stages of gastric cancers.There were significant differences of all the ADC histogram parameters for gastric cancers at different T (except ADCmin and ADCmax) and N (except ADCmax) stages. Most ADC histogram parameters differed significantly between T1 vs T3, T1 vs T4, T2 vs T4, N0 vs N1, N0 vs N3, and some parameters (ADC5%, ADC10%, ADCmin) differed significantly between N0 vs N2, N2 vs N3 (all P < 0.05). Most parameters except ADCmax performed well in differentiating different T and N stages of gastric cancers. Especially for identifying patients with and without lymph node metastasis, the ADC10% yielded the largest area under the ROC curve of 0.794 (95% confidence interval, 0.677-0.911). All the parameters except ADCmax showed excellent inter-observer agreement with intra-class correlation coefficients higher than 0.800.Whole-volume ADC histogram parameters held great potential in differentiating different T and N stages of gastric cancers preoperatively.

Objectives To determine whether bi‐ or tri‐exponential models, and full or segmented fittings, better fit the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging signal of healthy livers. Methods Diffusion‐weighted images were acquired with a 3 T scanner using a respiratory‐triggered echo‐planar sequence and 16 b ‐values (0–800 s/mm 2 ). Eighteen healthy volunteers had their livers scanned twice in the same session, and then once in another session. Liver parenchyma region‐of‐interest‐based measurements were processed with bi‐exponential and tri‐exponential models, with both full fitting and segmented fitting (threshold b ‐value = 200 s/mm 2 ). Results With the signal of all scans averaged, bi‐exponential model full fitting showed D slow = 1.14 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s, D fast = 193.6 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s, and perfusion fraction (PF) = 16.9%, and segmented fitting showed D slow = 0.98 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s, D fast = 42.2 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s, and PF = 23.3%. IVIM parameters derived from the tri‐exponential model were similar for full fitting and segmented fitting, with slow ( D ' slow = 0.98 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s; F ' slow = 76.4 or 76.6%), fast ( D ' fast = 15.1 or 15.4 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s; F ' fast = 11.8 or 11.7%) and very fast ( D ' Vfast = 445.0 or 448.8 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s; F ' Vfast = 11.8 or 11.7%) diffusion compartments. The tri‐exponential model provided an overall better fit than the bi‐exponential model. For the bi‐exponential model, full fitting provided a better fit at very low and low b ‐values compared with segmented fitting, with the latter tending to underestimate D fast ; however, the segmented method demonstrated lower error in signal prediction for high b ‐values. Compared with full fitting, tri‐exponential segmented fitting offered better scan‐rescan reproducibility. Conclusion For healthy liver, tri‐exponential modeling is preferred to bi‐exponential modeling. For the bi‐exponential model, segmented fitting underestimates D fast , but offers a more accurate estimation of D slow .

Rationale and Objectives This study aimed to develop whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based entropy-related parameters of cervical cancer to preliminarily assess intratumoral heterogeneity of this lesion in comparison to adjacent normal cervical tissues. Materials and Methods A total of 51 women (mean age, 49 years) with cervical cancers confirmed by biopsy underwent 3-T pelvic diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm2 prospectively. ADC-based entropy-related parameters including first-order entropy and second-order entropies were derived from the whole tumor volume as well as adjacent normal cervical tissues. Intraclass correlation coefficient, Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni correction, Kruskal-Wallis test, and receiver operating characteristic curve were used for statistical analysis. Results All the parameters showed excellent interobserver agreement (all intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.900). Entropy, entropy(H)0, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean were significantly higher, whereas entropy(H)range and entropy(H)std were significantly lower in cervical cancers compared to adjacent normal cervical tissues (all P <.0001). Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there were no significant differences among the values of various second-order entropies including entropy(H)0, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean. All second-order entropies had larger area under the receiver operating characteristic curve than first-order entropy in differentiating cervical cancers from adjacent normal cervical tissues. Further, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean had the same largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.867. Conclusion Whole-lesion ADC-based entropy-related parameters of cervical cancers were developed successfully, which showed initial potential in characterizing intratumoral heterogeneity in comparison to adjacent normal cervical tissues. This study aimed to develop whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-based entropy-related parameters of cervical cancer to preliminarily assess intratumoral heterogeneity of this lesion in comparison to adjacent normal cervical tissues. A total of 51 women (mean age, 49 years) with cervical cancers confirmed by biopsy underwent 3-T pelvic diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm2 prospectively. ADC-based entropy-related parameters including first-order entropy and second-order entropies were derived from the whole tumor volume as well as adjacent normal cervical tissues. Intraclass correlation coefficient, Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni correction, Kruskal-Wallis test, and receiver operating characteristic curve were used for statistical analysis. All the parameters showed excellent interobserver agreement (all intraclass correlation coefficients > 0.900). Entropy, entropy(H)0, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean were significantly higher, whereas entropy(H)range and entropy(H)std were significantly lower in cervical cancers compared to adjacent normal cervical tissues (all P <.0001). Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there were no significant differences among the values of various second-order entropies including entropy(H)0, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean. All second-order entropies had larger area under the receiver operating characteristic curve than first-order entropy in differentiating cervical cancers from adjacent normal cervical tissues. Further, entropy(H)45, entropy(H)90, entropy(H)135, and entropy(H)mean had the same largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.867. Whole-lesion ADC-based entropy-related parameters of cervical cancers were developed successfully, which showed initial potential in characterizing intratumoral heterogeneity in comparison to adjacent normal cervical tissues.

The NIR-laser-driven plasmonic photothermal and sustained drug release behavior of CuS–PTX/SiO₂ nanocapsules show great synergistic chemo-photothermal therapeutic effects on cancer cells <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic>.

Tumorigenic M2 phenotype macrophages, which are polarized by stimulating factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME), could facilitate tumor growth. They take participants in limiting T cells functions, tumor angiogenesis, tumor invasion, and metastasis. Increasing the ratio of M1 over M2 macrophages in TME is a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy. Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) from the oral cavity could secrete melanin steadily, recruit macrophages and accelerate the conversion of macrophages to M1 phenotype. Here, we report a wrapping Porphyromonas gingivalis coated with the red blood cell membrane (cm) to generate cmPg to tune the ratio of M1 over M2 macrophages for cancer immunotherapy. The cm coating improves bacteria's size distribution, reduces their uptake by macrophages, and sustains the polarization behavior. In addition, the melanin in cmPg serves as photothermal therapy (PTT) agent under laser irradiation, enables cmPg to convert light to heat, and facilitates photothermal-induced immunogenic cell death (ICD) of cancer cells. Our bioinspired immunomodulatory bacteria can inhibit the growth of the primary and secondary tumor in B16F10 melanoma and CT26 colon cancer with the help of laser and anti-PD-1. Our work offers a straightforward strategy to upcycle Pg as biocompatible materials for combined photothermal immunotherapy.

Compared the outcomes between lenvatinib plus camrelizumab therapy and lenvatinib monotherapy as post-progression treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with progressive disease (PD).A total of 48 advanced HCC patients were included in this retrospective study between June 2019 and March 2020. The patients were divided into the lenvatinib plus camrelizumab group (n=21) and the lenvatinib group (n=27). Primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and secondary endpoints were the objective response rate (ORR) and adverse events (AEs).The median follow-up time was 8.4 months. The median OS was not obtained. The median PFS of lenvatinib plus camrelizumab group was significantly longer than that of lenvatinib group (8.0 months vs 4.0 months, p=0.011). Compared with lenvatinib group, lenvatinib plus camrelizumab group had higher ORR (28.57% vs 7.41%) and disease control rate (DCR) (71.43% vs 51.85%). The most common adverse events (AEs) included hand-foot skin reaction, hypertensions and abnormal hepatic function damage. Overall, 23.81% and 25.93% of patients experienced grade ≥3AEs in the lenvatinib plus camrelizumab group and the lenvatinib group, respectively.Lenvatinib plus camrelizumab as post-progression treatment is effective and safe for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with PD.

Multifunctional antimicrobial strategies are urgently needed to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) caused pneumonia due to its increasing resistance, enhanced virulence, and high pathogenicity. Here, we report that lysostaphin, a bacteriolytic enzyme, encapsulated within poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres (LyIR@MS) specially treats planktonic MRSA bacteria, mature biofilms, and related pneumonia. Optimized LyIR@MS with suitable diameters could deliver a sufficient amount of lysostaphin to the lung without a decrease in survival rate after intravenous injection. Furthermore, the degradable properties of the carrier make it safe for targeted release of lysostaphin to eliminate MRSA, repressing the expression of virulence genes and improving the sensitivity of biofilms to host neutrophils. In the MRSA pneumonia mouse model, treatment or prophylaxis with LyIR@MS significantly improved survival rate and relieved inflammatory injury without introducing adverse events. These findings suggest the clinical translational potential of LyIR@MS for the treatment of MRSA-infected lung diseases.

Discrete, magnetically recyclable, and oxidation-resistant nanoparticles with nickel/nickel phosphide core−shell structure were synthesized through surface-phosphatizing Ni nanoparticles using triphenylphosphine as the phosphorus source. The Ni2P shell thickness was tunable by changing the reaction time in the mild temperature organic solution. And it was shown that the chemical architecture of core−shell can be useful to prepare Ni3P nanogranular films through the chemical combination of Ni2P shell with inner Ni during annealing. The core−shell magnetic architecture can also be helpful in improving the magnetically thermal stability through the effective influence of surface anisotropy after magnetic surface modification. The mechanism could be used to guide the synthesis and application of similar core−shell structured nanomaterials.

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlations between histological differentiation and Lauren classification of gastric cancer and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Materials and methods Sixty-nine patients with gastric cancer lesions underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (3.0T) and surgical resection. DWI was obtained with a single-shot, echo-planar imaging sequence in the axial plane (b values: 0 and 1000 s/mm2). Mean and minimum ADC values were obtained for each gastric cancer and normal gastric walls by two radiologists, who were blinded to the histological findings. Histological type, degree of differentiation and Lauren classification of each resected specimen were determined by one pathologist. Mean and minimum ADC values of gastric cancers with different histological types, degrees of differentiation and Lauren classifications were compared. Correlations between ADC values and histological differentiation and Lauren classification were analyzed. Results The mean and minimum ADC values of gastric cancers, as a whole and separately, were significantly lower than those of normal gastric walls (all p values <0.001). There were significant differences in the mean and minimum ADC values among gastric cancers with different histological types, degrees of differentiation and Lauren classifications (p < 0.05). Mean and minimum ADC values correlated significantly (all p < 0.001) with histological differentiation (r = 0.564, 0.578) and Lauren classification (r = −0.493, −0.481). Conclusions The ADC values may be helpful as a noninvasive tool for evaluating the histological features of gastric cancer, such as histological type, degree of differentiation and Lauren classification.

Background To determine if the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of gastric cancers on the preoperative diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) correlate with the postoperative TNMs of the lesions. Methods In a retrospective clinical study, seventy patients with gastric cancers were enrolled and each underwent a MRI before surgery. DWI was obtained with a single‐shot, echo‐planar imaging sequence in the axial plane (b values: 0 and 1000 s/mm 2 ). The mean and minimum ADC values of the gastric cancers were calculated and compared among various postoperative TNM staging. Results Both mean and minimum ADC values of the gastric cancers correlated with the postoperative T staging (r = −0.464, −0.476; both P &lt; 0.001), N staging (r = −0.402, −0.397; P = 0.001, 0.002) and TNM staging (r = −0.446, −0.437; both P &lt; 0.001). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the differentiating lymph node metastasis were 0.788 for the mean ADC values ( P = 0.001) and 0.778 for the minimum ADC values ( P = 0.001). Conclusion The preoperative ADC values of gastric cancers can help to assess the postoperative TNM staging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;42:837–843.

The adsorption and photodegradation performance are of paramount importance to photocatalysts in environmental hazards, especially in serious organic pollutants leaking emergency in the absence of natural light illumination. Here we demonstrated a surface ligand assisted localized crystallization (SLALC) method to scale synthesis of cubic phase NaNbO3 (c-NaNbO3) photocatalyst at a low temperature as 350 °C. The as synthesized c-NaNbO3 nanoparticles could adsorb 95% of methylene blue (MB) in 3 min and photodegrade 99.3% of MB in 180 min. Moreover, the as prepared c-NaNbO3 nanoparticles exhibit both outstanding adsorption and photodegradation recoverability, which shows great potential in actual environmental conservation.

To explore the role of texture analysis of computed tomography (CT) images in preoperative assessment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) aggressiveness.Seventy-three patients with pathologically confirmed ESCC underwent unenhanced and contrast enhanced CT imaging preoperatively. Texture analysis was performed on unenhanced and contrast enhanced CT images, respectively. Six CT texture parameters were obtained. One-way analysis of variance or independent-samples t-test (normality), independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis test or Mann-Whitney U test (non-normality), binary Logistic regression analysis (multivariable), Spearman correlation test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used for statistical analyses.Kurtosis was an independent predictor for T stages (T1-2 vs. T3-4) as well as overall stages (I-II vs. III-IV) based on unenhanced CT images, while entropy was an independent predictor for T stages (T1-2 vs. T3-4), lymph node metastasis (N- vs. N+) and overall stages (I/II vs. III/IV). Skew and kurtosis based on unenhanced CT images showed significant differences among N stages (N0, N1, N2 and N3) as well as 90th percentile based on contrast enhanced CT images. In correlation with T stage of ESCC, kurtosis and entropy significantly correlated with T stage both on unenhanced and contrast enhanced CT images. Reversely, entropy and 90th percentile based on contrast enhanced CT images showed significant correlations with N stage (r: 0.526, 0.265; both P<0.05), as well as overall stage (r: 0.562, 0.315; both P<0.05). For identifying ESCC with different T stages (T1-2 vs. T3-4), lymph node metastasis (N- vs. N+) and overall stages (I/II vs. III/IV), entropy based on contrast enhanced CT images, showed good performance with area under ROC curve area under curve (AUC) of 0.637, 0.815 and 0.778, respectively.Texture analysis of CT images held great potential in differentiating different T, N and overall stages of ESCC preoperatively, while failed to assess the differentiation degrees.

A series of four kaolinite (Kaol) samples with various aspect ratios were prepared via a multi-step treatment consisting of intercalating Kaol by potassium acetate, ball-milling, de-intercalation, and classification. The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized by particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Compared with intercalation by potassium acetate only or ball-milling only, intercalation followed by ball-milling was proved to be a much more effective method to delaminate Kaol to generate high aspect ratio samples. The results showed that the grade of structural order increased with an increase of Kaol aspect ratio, which was supported by an increase of Hinckley index calculated from their XRD patterns. This method offers a facile and scalable production of Kaol with various aspect ratios for different applications.

•This is the first application of CT texture analysis in gastrointestinal stromal tumours. •CT histogram analysis can quantitavely assess different features of gastrointestinal stromal tumours. •Texture analysis of CT images holds great potential in predicting the malignancy risks of gastrointestinal stromal tumours preoperatively. Aim To explore the role of texture analysis of computed tomography (CT) images in predicting the malignancy risk of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). Materials and methods Seventy-eight patients with histopathologically confirmed GISTs underwent preoperative CT. Texture analysis was performed on unenhanced and contrast-enhanced CT images, respectively. Fourteen CT texture parameters were obtained and compared among GISTs at different malignancy risks with one-way analysis of variance or independent-samples Kruskal–Wallis test. Correlations between CT texture parameters and malignancy risk were analysed with Spearman's correlation test. Diagnostic performance of CT texture parameters in differentiating GISTs at low/very low malignancy risk was tested with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results Three parameters on unenhanced images (r=–0.268–0.506), four parameters on arterial phase (r=–0.365–0.508), and six parameters on venous phase (r=–0.343–0.481) imaging correlated significantly with malignancy risk of GISTs, respectively (all p<0.05). For identifying GISTs at low/very low malignancy risk, three parameters on unenhanced images (area under ROC curve [AUC], 0.676–0.802), four parameters on arterial phase (AUC, 0.637–0.811), and six parameters on venous phase (AUC, 0.636–0.791) imaging showed significant diagnostic performance, respectively (all p<0.05), especially maximum frequency on both unenhanced and contrast-enhanced images (AUC, 0.791–0.811). Conclusion Texture analysis of CT images holds great potential to predict the malignancy risk of GISTs preoperatively. To explore the role of texture analysis of computed tomography (CT) images in predicting the malignancy risk of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). Seventy-eight patients with histopathologically confirmed GISTs underwent preoperative CT. Texture analysis was performed on unenhanced and contrast-enhanced CT images, respectively. Fourteen CT texture parameters were obtained and compared among GISTs at different malignancy risks with one-way analysis of variance or independent-samples Kruskal–Wallis test. Correlations between CT texture parameters and malignancy risk were analysed with Spearman's correlation test. Diagnostic performance of CT texture parameters in differentiating GISTs at low/very low malignancy risk was tested with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Three parameters on unenhanced images (r=–0.268–0.506), four parameters on arterial phase (r=–0.365–0.508), and six parameters on venous phase (r=–0.343–0.481) imaging correlated significantly with malignancy risk of GISTs, respectively (all p<0.05). For identifying GISTs at low/very low malignancy risk, three parameters on unenhanced images (area under ROC curve [AUC], 0.676–0.802), four parameters on arterial phase (AUC, 0.637–0.811), and six parameters on venous phase (AUC, 0.636–0.791) imaging showed significant diagnostic performance, respectively (all p<0.05), especially maximum frequency on both unenhanced and contrast-enhanced images (AUC, 0.791–0.811). Texture analysis of CT images holds great potential to predict the malignancy risk of GISTs preoperatively.

Macroporous CeO2-ZrO2 (CZ) solid solutions with gradually changing ceria content were prepared through the EISA method. Pore sizes of the samples are about 100 nm-1 μm and pore walls are 100 nm-1.5 μm. The surface and near surface reduction bands of Ce4+ below 600 °C were maximized for the Ce0.5Zr0.5O2 sample (C5) according to the quantitative de-convolution to the acquired TPR curves. The area percentage of the O2-2p6 → Ce3+3d94f2 electronic transition band on XPS spectra, which related to the concentration of the Ce3+, was found to be a function of the ceria content. The oxygen storage capacity showed a positive relationship with the chemical compositions. Redox reactions below 600 °C play a key role in determining the reduction performances of ceria based TWCs. Three-way catalytic performances of the Pd + Rh + Pt /C5 sample showed an ignition temperature for CO and NOx at about 240 °C, and finished before 300 °C. The ignition of C3H8 started at 270 °C while finished at differed samples. The maximum catalytic efficiencies of CO, NOx, and C3H8 on C5 sample were revealed to 100%, 98%, and 97%, respectively. The performances showed that porous CZ solid solutions are suitable for high performance catalytic applications.

Manganese oxides have been frequently used as cathodes in primary batteries. Applications of manganese oxides in secondary batteries are limited by low electrical conductivity and rapid capacity fading because of electrode pulverization and aggregation. In this study, a solid-state synthetic strategy is presented that successfully combines nanosize (∼50 nm) nickel doped α-MnO2 with reduced graphene oxides as highly stable composite anodes in lithium ion batteries. The synthesis approach is easy to scale up and suitable for industrial applications. The rationally designed Ni-α-MnO2/RGO was tested in galvanostatic half coin cells for Li+ charge–discharge studies. The results show that this composite maintains a high capacity of 615 mAh g–1 even after 200 cycles at a high current rate of 1 C (830 mA g–1), and with a high Coulombic efficiency near 99%. The anodes exhibit excellent rate capability in a wide range of rate testing from 0.2 to 10 C, without showing capacity decay. This superior anode performance is ascribed to the reduced size of α-MnO2 domains that are well dispersed in an RGO matrix, which affords good ionic/electrical conductivity, low charge transfer resistance and mitigates issues of volume expansion of the anodic active materials. This study opens up an avenue for developing the manufacturing of high-performance electrodes for real applications, such as batteries in electrical vehicles.

To investigate the ability of CT-based radiomics signature for pre-and postoperatively predicting the early recurrence of intrahepatic mass-forming cholangiocarcinoma (IMCC) and develop radiomics-based prediction models. Institutional review board approved this study. Clinicopathological characteristics, contrast-enhanced CT images, and radiomics features of 125 IMCC patients (35 with early recurrence and 90 with non-early recurrence) were retrospectively reviewed. In the training set of 92 patients, preoperative model, pathological model, and combined model were developed by multivariate logistic regression analysis to predict the early recurrence (≤ 6 months) of IMCC, and the prediction performance of different models were compared using the Delong test. The developed models were validated by assessing their prediction performance in test set of 33 patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified solitary, differentiation, energy- arterial phase (AP), inertia-AP, and percentile50th-portal venous phase (PV) to construct combined model for predicting early recurrence of IMCC [the area under the curve (AUC) = 0.917; 95% CI 0.840-0.965]. While the AUC of pathological model and preoperative model were 0.741 (95% CI 0.637-0.828) and 0.844 (95% CI 0.751-0.912), respectively. The AUC of the combined model was significantly higher than that of the preoperative model (p = 0.049) or pathological model (p = 0.002) in training set. In test set, the combined model also showed higher prediction performance. CT-based radiomics signature is a powerful predictor for early recurrence of IMCC. Preoperative model (constructed with homogeneity-AP and standard deviation-AP) and combined model (constructed with solitary, differentiation, energy-AP, inertia-AP, and percentile50th-PV) can improve the accuracy for pre-and postoperatively predicting the early recurrence of IMCC.

Objective To assess the utilization of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in T staging of gastric cancer prospectively. Methods Fifty-one patients underwent T2-weighted (T2W), contrast-enhanced (CE) and DW MR imaging. Two radiologists independently interpreted the images for T staging of the tumors. Results The overall accuracy of T staging in pT1-4 gastric cancers by T2W+CE+DW (88.2%) was significantly higher than that by T2W+CE and T2W+DW (both 76.5%, P=.031). Conclusion DW adds useful information to T2W and CE MR imaging in T staging of gastric cancer.

A new one-step microwave method was designed for synthesis of rGO/Co₃O₄, and the Li-ion battery showed high capacity and long life.

By using the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model, the diffusion-related coefficient (D) and the perfusion-related parameter (f) can be obtained simultaneously. Here, we explored the application of IVIM MR imaging in predicting long-term prognosis in patients with advanced cervical cancers treated with concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT). In this study, pelvic MR examinations including an IVIM sequence were performed on 30 women with advanced cervical cancers at three time points (within 2 weeks before, as well as 2 and 4 weeks after, the initiation of CCRT). The performance of tumour size and IVIM-derived parameters in predicting long-term prognosis was evaluated. After a median follow-up of 24 months (range, 10∼34 months), 25/30 (83.33%) patients were alive, and 21/30 (70.00%) remained free of disease. A shrinkage rate of maximum diameter (time point 1 vs. 3) ≥ 58.31% was useful in predicting a good long-term prognosis. The IVIM-derived apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCIVIM) value at time point 2 and the ADCIVIM and f values at time point 3 also performed well in predicting a good prognosis, with AUC of 0.767, 0.857 and 0.820, respectively. IVIM MR imaging has great potential in predicting long-term prognosis in patients with advanced cervical cancers treated with CCRT.

To explore the value of whole-lesion apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram and texture analysis in predicting tumor recurrence of advanced cervical cancer treated with concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT).36 women with pathologically confirmed advanced cervical squamous carcinomas were enrolled in this prospective study. 3.0 T pelvic MR examinations including diffusion weighted imaging (b = 0, 800 s/mm2) were performed before CCRT (pre-CCRT) and at the end of 2nd week of CCRT (mid-CCRT). ADC histogram and texture features were derived from the whole volume of cervical cancers.With a mean follow-up of 25 months (range, 11 ∼ 43), 10/36 (27.8%) patients ended with recurrence. Pre-CCRT 75th, 90th, correlation, autocorrelation and mid-CCRT ADCmean, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, autocorrelation can effectively differentiate the recurrence from nonrecurrence group with area under the curve ranging from 0.742 to 0.850 (P values range, 0.001 ∼ 0.038).Pre- and mid-treatment whole-lesion ADC histogram and texture analysis hold great potential in predicting tumor recurrence of advanced cervical cancer treated with CCRT.

To evaluate whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of gastric cancer obtained from diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) correlates with the HER2 status. Forty-five patients, who had been diagnosed with gastric cancer through biopsy, were enrolled in this IRB-approved study. Each patient underwent a DWI (b values: 0 and 1,000 sec/mm2) prior to surgery (curative gastrectomy or palliative resection). Postoperative microscopic findings, HER2 status by immunohistochemical analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were obtained. HER2 status was compared among gastric cancers with various histopathological features using the chi square test. The ADC values of gastric cancers with positive and negative HER2 were compared using the student t test. A weak yet significant correlation was observed between the mean ADC values and HER2 status (r = 0.312, P = 0.037) and scores (r = 0.419, P = 0.004). The mean ADC value of HER2-positive gastric cancers was significantly higher than those of HER2-negative tumors (1.211 vs. 0.984 mm2/s, P = 0.020). The minimal ADC value of HER2-positive gastric cancers was significantly higher than those of HER2-negative tumors (1.105 vs. 0.905 × 10−3 mm2/s, P = 0.036). In this pilot study, we have demonstrated that the ADC values of gastric cancer correlate with the HER2 status. Future research is warranted to see if DWI can predict HER2 status and help in tailoring therapy for gastric cancer.

Cholangiolocellular carcinoma is a type of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). According to the 2010 World Health Organization classification, this carcinoma is a combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma with stem cell features, cholangiolocellular type (CHC-SC-CLC). The aim of this study was to compare the clinicopathological characteristics of CHC-SC-CLC and conventional ICC. Based on the gross and histologic characteristics, we divided consecutive ICC tumors into CHC-SC-CLC (n = 23), mass-forming (MF; n = 57), and non-MF (n = 22) groups. Compared with MF and non-MF groups, the CHC-SC-CLC group featured history of hepatolithiasis or bile duct operation in significantly fewer patients (4.3% versus 14.8% and 86.4%, respectively; P < .001) and was more common in the right lobe (70% versus 47% and 27%; P = .033) but lower frequency of invasive growth or peritumoral Glisson sheath invasion (61% and 22% versus 77% and 33% and 100% and 86%, respectively; P = .002 and P < .001) and absence of mucous production (0 versus 77% and 96%; P < .001). In CHC-SC-CLCs, the mutation rate of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) or IDH2 was significantly higher (35%) than in MF (4%) or non-MF (0) ICCs (P < .001). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year postresection survival rates were also significantly better with CHC-SC-CLCs (93%, 79%, and 52%, respectively) than with MF (72%, 46%, and 40%) or non-MF (61%, 18%, and 0) ICCs (P = .041). Thus, CHC-SC-CLC tumors demonstrated an indolent growth pattern, more frequent IDH1/2 gene mutations, and better prognosis than did MF or non-MF ICC tumors.

Polymerized films synthesized on magnetic nanoparticles (NP) using amino acid-like monomers yielded reusable NPs that efficiently remove HSA from serum.