Alpha-fetoprotein combined with initial tumor shape irregularity in predicting the survival of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors: a retrospective multi-center cohort study.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are playing a significant role in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aims to explore the prognostic value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and initial tumor shape irregularity in patients treated with ICIs.

Methods: In this retrospective, multi-center study, 296 HCC patients were randomly divided into the training set and the validation set in a 3:2 ratio.

Space-Confined Vertical Growth of Large-Size Organic Semiconductor Single Crystals.

Organic semiconductor single crystals (OSSCs) have garnered considerable attention because of their high charge mobility and atomic-scale smooth surface. However, their large-size high-quality preparation remains challenging due to the inevitable defects and limited growth speed brought by traditional epitaxial growth. Here, we demonstrate a space-confined strategy, named out-of-plane microspacing in-air sublimation (OPMAS), for growing vertically millimeter-sized OSSCs in several minutes by revolutionizing the heterogeneous epitaxial growth mode severely depending on substrates into a spontaneous homogeneous growth mode free from substrates.

Radial Inertia Effect of Ultra-Soft Materials from Hopkinson Bar and Solution Methodologies.

The split-Hopkinson pressure bar technique is widely used to determine the dynamic mechanical behavior of materials. However, spike-like stress features appear in the initial stress behavior of ultra-soft materials tested with a split-Hopkinson bar. These features are not intrinsic characteristics of the materials.

Mechanochemical Recycling of Flexible Polyurethane Foam Scraps for Quantitative Replacement of Polyol Using Wedge-Block-Reinforced Extruder.

Recycling flexible polyurethane foam (F-PUF) scraps is difficult due to the material's high cross-linking structure. In this work, a wedge-block-reinforced extruder with a considerable enhanced shear extrusion and stretching area between the rotating screw and the stationary wedge blocks was utilized to recycle F-PUF scraps into powder containing surface-active hydroxyl groups. The powder was then utilized for the quantitative replacement of polyol in the foaming process.

Diagnostic value of carbohydrate antigen 50 in biliary tract cancer: A large-scale multicenter study.

Background: To date, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) have been widely used for the screening, diagnosis and prediction of biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients. However, few studies with large sample sizes of carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) were reported in BTC patients.

Methods: A total of 1121 patients from the Liver Cancer Clin-Bio Databank of Anhui Hepatobiliary Surgery Union between January 2017 and December 2022 were included in this study (673 in the training cohort and 448 in the validation cohort): among them, 458 with BTC, 178 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 23 with combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma, and 462 with nontumor patients.

Tumour response following preoperative chemotherapy is affected by body mass index in patients with colorectal liver metastases.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent malignancy globally and ranks second in cancer-related mortality, with the liver being the primary organ of metastasis. Preoperative chemotherapy is widely recommended for initially or potentially resectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs). Tumour pathological response serves as the most important and intuitive indicator for assessing the efficacy of chemotherapy.

Fermented calcium butyrate supplementation in post-peak laying hens improved ovarian function and tibia quality through the "gut-bone" axis.

The compromised egg quality and leg abnormality during the end of the laying cycle (after 40 weeks) have been leading to poor animal welfare and substantial economic losses. Therefore, the effects of fermented calcium (Ca) butyrate, produced by fermentation by , on production, eggshell quality, and tibial property of hens were explored. A total of 192 Hy-line brown laying hens at 50-week-old were assigned to a basal diet or the basal diet with 300 mg/kg of the fermented Ca butyrate from 50 to 58 weeks of age.

Dibenzothiophene Sulfone-Based Ambipolar-Transporting Blue-Emissive Organic Semiconductors Towards Simple-Structured Organic Light-Emitting Transistors.

The development of blue-emissive ambipolar organic semiconductor is an arduous target due to the large energy gap, but is an indispensable part for electroluminescent device, especially for the transformative display technology of simple-structured organic light-emitting transistor (SS-OLET). Herein, we designed and synthesized two new dibenzothiophene sulfone-based high mobility blue-emissive organic semiconductors (DNaDBSOs), which demonstrate superior optical property with solid-state photoluminescent quantum yield of 46-67 % and typical ambipolar-transporting properties in SS-OLETs with symmetric gold electrodes. Comprehensive experimental and theoretical characterizations reveal the natural of ambipolar property for such blue-emissive DNaDBSOs-based materials is ascribed to a synergistic effect on lowering LUMO level and reduced electron injection barrier induced by the interfacial dipoles effect on gold electrodes due to the incorporation of appropriate DBSO unit.

Recent advances in n-type and ambipolar organic semiconductors and their multi-functional applications.

Organic semiconductors have received broad attention and research interest due to their unique integration of semiconducting properties with structural tunability, intrinsic flexibiltiy and low cost. In order to meet the requirements of organic electronic devices and their integrated circuits, p-type, n-type and ambipolar organic semiconductors are all necessary. However, due to the limitation in both material synthesis and device fabrication, the development of n-type and ambipolar materials is quite behind that of p-type materials.

Combination of Cinnamaldehyde with Carvacrol or Thymol Improves the Mechanical Properties of Tibia in Post-Peak Laying Hens.

Roles of plant-derived cinnamaldehyde, carvacrol, and thymol in the gut and bone health of laying hens was evaluated in the present study. After acclimation for 2 weeks, a total 384 of 52-week-old laying hens were allocated into three groups for 6 weeks: (1) basal diet group (Ctrl), (2) combination of cinnamaldehyde with carvacrol group (CAR+CIN), and (3) blend of cinnamaldehyde with thymol (THY+CIN). The dietary essential oil level was 100 mg/kg.

Ultralow-Power Vertical Transistors for Multilevel Decoding Modes.

Organic field-effect transistors with parallel transmission and learning functions are of interest in the development of brain-inspired neuromorphic computing. However, the poor performance and high power consumption are the two main issues limiting their practical applications. Herein, an ultralow-power vertical transistor is demonstrated based on transition-metal carbides/nitrides (MXene) and organic single crystal.

Dietary cinnamaldehyde with carvacrol or thymol improves the egg quality and intestinal health independent of gut microbiota in post-peak laying hens.

Essential oils have been proven to exert multiple effects on growth performance, production quality, and health status in poultry nutrition, which is dependent on the component and/or dose of essential oils. Diets with the optimal combination of essential oils might be able to improve the performance traits and welfare of laying hens. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary essential oils, which are composed of cinnamaldehyde with carvacrol or thymol, on performance, egg quality, and intestinal health in post-peak laying hens.

Clinical efficacy of avatrombopag and recombinant human thrombopoietin in the treatment of chronic liver disease-associated severe thrombocytopenia: A real-world study.

To investigate the clinical efficacy of avatrombopag, an oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist, versus subcutaneous recombinant human thrombopoietin (rh-TPO) in the treatment of severe thrombocytopenia (TCP) associated with chronic liver disease (CLD). Clinical data of 250 patients with severe TCP associated with CLD were collected in a single hospital from January 2019 to January 2022. The main parameters measured were the therapeutic response rate, changes in platelets (PLTs), and adverse events.

Acidification of drinking water improved tibia mass of broilers through the alterations of intestinal barrier and microbiota.

Objective: Diet acidification supplementation is known to influence intestinal morphology, gut microbiota, and on phosphorus (P) utilization of broilers. Alterations in intestinal barrier and microbiota have been associated with systemic inflammation and thus regulating bone turnover. Hence the effect of acidifier addition to drinking water on tibia mass and the linkages between intestinal integrity and bone were studied.

Intrinsic Linear Dichroism of Organic Single Crystals toward High-Performance Polarization-Sensitive Photodetectors.

The ability to detect light in photodetectors is central to practical optoelectronic applications, which has been demonstrated in inorganic semiconductor devices. However, so far, the study of polarization-sensitive organic photodetectors, which have unique applications in flexible and wearable electronics, has not received much attention. Herein, the construction of polarization-sensitive photodetectors based on the single crystals of a superior optoelectronic organic semiconductor, 2,6-diphenyl anthracene (DPA), is demonstrated.

1D Mixed-Stack Cocrystals Based on Perylene Diimide toward Ambipolar Charge Transport.

There is very limited repertoire of organic ambipolar semiconductors to date. Electron donor-acceptor alternative stacking is a unique and important binary motif for 1D mixed-stack cocrystals, opening up possibilities for the development of organic ambipolar semiconductors. Herein, four 1D mixed-stack cocrystals using N,N'-bis(perfluorobutyl)-1,7-dicyanoperylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDICNF) as the acceptor and anthracene, pyrene, perylene, and meso-diphenyl tetrathia[22]annulene[2,1,2,1] (DPTTA) as the donors are achieved in a stoichiometric ratio (D:A = 1:1) through solution or vapor processed methods.

Electrically Conductive Coordination Polymers for Electronic and Optoelectronic Device Applications.

Electrically conductive coordination polymers (generally known as metal-organic frameworks, MOFs) are a class of crystalline hybrid materials produced by the reasonable self-assembly of metal nodes and organic linkers. The unique and intriguing combination of inorganic and organic components endows coordination polymers with superior optical and electrical properties, which have recently aroused much attention in several electronic and optoelectronic technological applications. However, there are many challenging obstacles and issues that need to be addressed in this burgeoning field.

Two-Dimensional Conjugated Polymer Synthesized by Interfacial Suzuki Reaction: Towards Electronic Device Applications.

Preparing two-dimensional conjugated polymers (2DCPs) with desirable structures and semiconducting properties is promising but remains a great challenge. Presented here is a new 2DCP, named 2D polytriethyltriindole (2DPTTI), which is efficiently synthesized by a modified interfacial Suzuki reaction from 2,7,12-tribromo-5,10,15-triethyltriindole (2-BrTTI) and 1,4-benzenediboronic acid dipinacol ester (BADE) precursors at room temperature. Wafer-scale free-standing 2DPTTI films with controllable thicknesses between 2.

In Situ Strain and Damage Monitoring of GFRP Laminates Incorporating Carbon Nanofibers under Tension.

In this study, conductive carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were dispersed into epoxy resin and then infused into glass fiber fabric to fabricate CNF/glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates. The electrical resistance and strain of CNF/GFRP laminates were measured simultaneously during tensile loadings to investigate the in situ strain and damage monitoring capability of CNF/GFRP laminates. The damage evolution and conduction mechanisms of the laminates were also presented.

Paris Saponin II induced apoptosis via activation of autophagy in human lung cancer cells.

Paris Saponin II (PSII) has been shown anticancer activity against several cancer lines through the pro-apoptotic pathway. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between apoptosis and autophagy taking part in the anti-cancer mechanisms of PSII. In this study, PSII induced autophagy and apoptosis in dose- and time-dependent manners.