New targeted treatments for advanced sarcomas.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this review is to provide the rationale and results behind recent clinical trials regarding molecular-targeted agents for advanced sarcomas.

Recent Findings: Tazemetostat, a first-in-class EZH2 inhibitor, was approved to treat advanced epithelioid sarcoma. In synovial sarcoma, the interaction between pathognomonic SS18-SSX fusion protein and the BAF complex has brought insight in using BRD9 inhibitors as a treatment based on synthetic lethality.

Baseline Circulating miR-125b Levels Predict a High FIB-4 Index Score in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients after Nucleos(t)ide Analog Treatment.

The regulatory role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in HBV-associated HCC pathogenesis has been reported previously. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum miR-125b and liver fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients after nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) treatment. Baseline serum miR-125b levels and other relevant laboratory data were measured for 124 patients who underwent 12-month NA therapy.

A radiomics approach for lung nodule detection in thoracic CT images based on the dynamic patterns of morphological variation.

Objectives: To propose and evaluate a set of radiomic features, called morphological dynamics features, for pulmonary nodule detection, which were rooted in the dynamic patterns of morphological variation and needless precise lesion segmentation.

Materials And Methods: Two datasets were involved, namely, university hospital (UH) and LIDC datasets, comprising 72 CT scans (360 nodules) and 888 CT scans (2230 nodules), respectively. Each nodule was annotated by multiple radiologists.

Adjuvant versus Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Clinical and Immunologic Perspectives.

Advancement in systemic therapy, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based combination regimens, has transformed the treatment landscape for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The advancement in systemic therapy also provides new opportunities of reducing recurrence after curative therapy through adjuvant therapy or improving resectability through neoadjuvant therapy. Improved recurrence-free survival by adjuvant or neoadjuvant ICI-based therapy has been reported in other cancer types.

Well-Dispersed Garnet Crystallites for Applications in Solid-State Li-S Batteries.

A uniform ceramic tape of well-dispersed garnet-type LiLaZrTaO particles (LLZTO) with a high solid content of 70 wt % is prepared as an electrolyte in solid-state Li-S batteries. The use of appropriate dispersants is crucial for achieving fine dispersion and uniform distribution of LLZTO particles in the ceramic tape. This leads to improved surface flatness and mechanical strength of the ceramic tape.

Encapsulating Well-Dispersed Carbon Nanoparticles for Applications in the Autonomous Restoration of Electronic Circuits.

Two types of conductive microcapsules with a median size of less than 5 μm are proposed, and their high potential as a key functional material for self-restorable conductive pastes for applications in printed electronic circuits is verified. A well-dispersed suspension of carbon nanoparticles in toluene is prepared as the core material of the microcapsules. The restoration capabilities of the microcapsules for the physical structure and electrical conductivity of silver-based electronic circuit lines are compared.

New Brush Copolymers as an Effective Dispersant for Stabilizing Concentrated Suspensions of Silver Nanoparticles.

Silver nanopowders (nano-Ag) have extremely high surface energy and are generally difficult to have an effective dispersant for their dispersion stabilization. This study proposes two brush copolymers that show a strong preference for adsorption on the nano-Ag surface their backbone, while their side chains extend into the dispersion solvent for particle stabilization. After adding only 5 wt % (based on the mass of nano-Ag) of the proposed dispersants, the nano-Ag particles can be stably suspended without settling for at least 2 months.

Dispersion of microcapsules for the improved thermochromic performance of smart coatings.

Microcapsules are widely applied in coatings; however, there are very few reports on the dispersion of microcapsules in the coating material or the effects of dispersion on their performance. Herein, the efficiency of three types of dispersants bearing distinctive functional groups for the dispersion of concentrated thermochromic microcapsules in a solvent and coating resin is studied. The dispersion properties of 35 wt% thermochromic microcapsules in toluene and in coating resin are investigated by measuring their sedimentation and rheological behavior.

Dispersion of Poly(urea-formaldehyde)-Based Microcapsules for Self-Healing and Anticorrosion Applications.

An effective dispersant, oleyl phosphate (OP), for the dispersion of poly(urea-formaldehyde)-based microcapsules in a typical epoxy coating material is proposed. Based on electron microscopy observations and rheological and mechanical characterizations, it is observed that the addition of merely 0.5 wt % of OP is sufficient to obtain good dispersion of the microcapsules in the epoxy.

Preparation of highly dispersed and concentrated aqueous suspensions of nanodiamonds using novel diblock dispersants.

Hypothesis: Finding an efficient dispersant for obtaining a good dispersion of 5-nm detonation nanodiamond (DND) is always a challenge. Two newly designed diblock copolymers, both poly(ammonium methacrylate)-block-poly(2-phenoxyethyl acrylate) (PMA-b-PBEA) but with different molar ratios of PMA to PBEA, were proposed to be efficient dispersants in stabilizing the concentrated aqueous suspensions of DND.

Experiments: The dispersion efficiency of dispersants for DND in aqueous suspensions was studied by the measurements of particle size, sedimentation property, and rheological behavior.

Newly designed diblock dispersant for powder stabilization in water-based suspensions.

A newly designed dispersant for water-based suspensions, ammonium poly(methacrylate)-block-poly(2-phenoxyethyl acrylate) (PMA-b-PBEA), is proposed in this study. According to the results of rheological analysis, the dispersion efficiency of this new dispersant is superior to that of the commercially available ammonium polyacrylate (PAA-NH). The diblock structure of PMA-b-PBEA, which simultaneously contains a low-polar anchoring head group and a water-dissociable stabilizing moiety, is the main cause for its extremely high efficiency for powder dispersion.

New Approach for the Synthesis of Nanozirconia Fortified Microcapsules.

Robust poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) microcapsules with composite shells comprising zirconia (ZrO) nanopowder incorporated in PUF were fabricated via a novel and facile one-pot synthesis. ZrO nanopowder was chosen because it owns one of the highest mechanical strengths among ceramics. The nanopowder was predispersed in the core material to combine encapsulation and fortification into a single process.

Tomatidine inhibits invasion of human lung adenocarcinoma cell A549 by reducing matrix metalloproteinases expression.

Tomatidine is an aglycone of glycoalkaloid tomatine in tomato. Tomatidine is found to possess anti-inflammatory properties and may serve as a chemosensitizer in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. However, the effect of tomatidine on cancer cell metastasis remains unclear.

Multiple recognition systems adopting four different glycotopes at the same domain for the Agaricus bisporus agglutinin-glycan interactions.

For the GalNAcalpha1--> specific Agaricus bisporus agglutinin (ABA) from an edible mushroom, the mechanism of polyvalent Galbeta1-->3/4GlcNAcbeta1--> complex in ABA-carbohydrate recognition has not been well defined since Gal and GlcNAc are weak ligands. By enzyme-linked lectinosorbent and inhibition assays, we show that the polyvalent Galbeta1-->3/4GlcNAcbeta1--> in natural glycans also play vital roles in binding and we propose that four different intensities of glycotopes (Galbeta1-3GalNAcalpha1-, GalNAcalpha1-Ser/Thr and Galbeta1-3/4GlcNAcbeta1-) construct three recognition systems at the same domain. This peculiar concept provides the most comprehensive mechanism for the attachment of ABA to target glycans and malignant cells at the molecular level.

Duality of the carbohydrate-recognition system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-II lectin (PA-IIL).

The study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-II lectin (PA-IIL) complexes with Man derivatives as a recognition factor has been neglected since its monomer is a very weak ligand. Here, the roles of Man oligomers and complexes in PA-IIL carbohydrate-recognition were studied by both enzyme-linked lectinosorbent and inhibition assays. From the results obtained, it is proposed that high density weak -OH conformation as seen in yeast mannan is also an important PA-IIL recognition factor.

Impact of diabetes mellitus on the prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prevalent chronic metabolic disease reported to affect the treatment outcomes of malignancies. This study explores the impact of diabetes on the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Materials And Methods: Clinicopathological characteristics and survival in terms of overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) of patients with OSCC who underwent surgical intervention at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital between 2002 and 2005 were stratified by diabetic status and compared.

An efficient approach to derive hydroxyl groups on the surface of barium titanate nanoparticles to improve its chemical modification ability.

Highly hydroxylated barium titanate (BaTiO(3)) nanoparticles have been prepared via an easy and gentle approach which oxidizes BaTiO(3) nanoparticles using an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). The hydroxylated BaTiO(3) surface reacts with sodium oleate (SOA) to form oleophilic layers that greatly enhance the dispersion of BaTiO(3) nanoparticles in organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, toluene, and n-octane. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the major functional groups on the surface of H(2)O(2)-treated BaTiO(3) nanoparticles are hydroxyl groups which are chemically active, favoring chemical bonding with SOA.