A novel machine learning model for efficacy prediction of immunotherapy-chemotherapy in NSCLC based on CT radiomics.

Lung cancer is categorized into two main types: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer. Of these, NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of all cases and encompasses varieties such as squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. For patients with advanced NSCLC that do not have oncogene addiction, the preferred treatment approach is a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.

Real-world tobacco cessation practice in China: findings from the prospective, nationwide multicenter China National Tobacco Cessation Cohort Study (CNTCCS).

Background: Tobacco cessation is proven to be the most effective and cost-effective strategy for smokers to reduce their risk of smoking-related disease and premature death. Providing effective, efficient, safe, and patient-centred tobacco cessation treatment to reach those who need them is a significant challenge. To date, only a few nationwide studies in China have assessed the overall clinical care practice and treatment outcome of tobacco cessation.

Whole exome sequencing identified a novel variant as a candidate pathogenic allele underlying a Li-Fraumeni-like family.

Background: Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) and Li-Fraumeni-like (LFL) syndrome are rare hereditary diseases characterized by predisposition to a diverse spectrum of cancer types, primarily sarcoma. The pathogenic variants underlying the majority of LFL cases remain to be explored.

Methods: We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) on 13 core members of a large LFL family with highly aggregated incidences of cancers, including cases with sarcoma, non-small cell lung cancer and cardiac angiosarcoma, and conducted a comprehensive literature review of candidate gene associations in LFS/LFL syndromes or sarcoma to identify potential pathogenic germline variants.

Water Corrosion of Tungsten Target for Accelerator-Driven Neutron Source.

The water corrosion of tungsten as a target material can affect the safe operation of accelerator-driven neutron source. This paper reported the corrosion behaviors of tungsten in ultrapure water and tap water for 7, 14, 21, 30 and 60 days. Moreover, ICP-MS, XRD, XPS, SEM-EDS and LSCM were used to analyze the components in solutions, crystalline structures, chemical compositions and surface morphologies.

Enhanced open-circuit voltages and efficiencies: the role of oxidation state of molybdenum oxide buffer layer in polymer solar cells.

Molybdenum oxide (MoO ) is widely used as a buffer layer in optoelectronic devices to improve the charge extraction efficiency. The oxidation state of MoO plays an important role in determining its electrical properties. However, there are few studies on the oxidation state to further guide the optimization of the MoO buffer layer.

Influence of Film Coating Thickness on Secondary Electron Emission Characteristics of Non-Evaporable Getter Ti-Hf-V-Zr Coated Open-Cell Copper Foam Substrates.

The application of vacuum materials with low secondary electron yield (SEY) is one of the effective methods to mitigate the electron cloud (EC). In this study, the Ti-Hf-V-Zr non-evaporable getter (NEG) film was deposited on open-cell copper foams with different pore sizes for the suppression of electron multipacting effects. Besides, the influence of the film thickness on the secondary electron emission (SEE) characteristics of Ti-Hf-V-Zr NEG film-coated open-cell copper foam substrates was investigated for the first time.

The Characterization of Silicone-Tungsten-Based Composites as Flexible Gamma-Ray Shields.

Robots are very essential for modern nuclear power plants to monitor equipment conditions and eliminate accidents, allowing one to reduce the radiations on personnel. As a novel robot, a soft robot with the advantages of more degrees of freedom and abilities of continuously bending and twisting has been proposed and developed for applications in nuclear power industry. Considering the radiation and high-temperature environment, the overall performance improvement of the flexible materials used in the soft nuclear robot, such as the tensile property and gamma-ray shielding property, is an important issue, which should be paid attention.

Depositing a Titanium Coating on the Lithium Neutron Production Target by Magnetron Sputtering Technology.

Lithium (Li) is one of the commonly used target materials for compact accelerator-based neutron source (CANS) to generate neutrons by Li(p, n)7 Be reaction. To avoid neutron yield decline caused by lithium target reacting with the air, a titanium (Ti) coating was deposited on the lithium target by magnetron sputtering technology. The color change processes of coated and bare lithium samples in the air were observed and compared to infer the chemical state of lithium qualitatively.

Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography for Evaluation of Diaphragm Stiffness in Patients with Stable COPD: A Pilot Trial.

Objectives: Skeletal muscle dysfunction is one of the most common comorbidities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The occurrence of respiratory failure in COPD is common and leads to the patient's death. The diaphragm is the most important muscle in the respiratory system and plays a key role in the onset of respiratory failure.

The Activation of Ti-Zr-V-Hf Non-Evaporable Getter Films with Open-Cell Copper Metal Foam Substrates.

Secondary electron emission (SEE) inhibition and vacuum instability are two important issues in accelerators that may induce multiple effects in accelerators, such as power loss and beam lifetime reduction. In order to mitigate SEE and maintain high vacuum simultaneously, open-cell copper metal foam (OCMF) substrates with Ti-Zr-V-Hf non-evaporable getter (NEG) coatings are first proposed, and the properties of surface morphology, surface chemistry and secondary electron yield (SEY) were analyzed for the first time. According to the experimental results tested at 25 °C, the maximum SEY (δmax) of OCMF before and after Ti-Zr-V-Hf NEG film deposition were 1.

Mechanical and Electrical Characteristics of WB Synthesized at High Pressure and High Temperature.

Single-phase tungsten diboride (WB) was synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. The different grain sizes ranging from 300 nm to 3 µm were successfully obtained in WB by controlling the experimental conditions. The effects of grain size on hardness and resistivity properties were investigated.

Dynamics of Plasma EGFR T790M Mutation in Advanced NSCLC: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is an emerging technology for quantitative cell-free DNA oncology applications. However, a ddPCR assay for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) p.Thr790Met (T790M) mutation suitable for clinical use remains to be established with analytical and clinical validations.

Crocin ameliorates chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-induced depression via PI3K/Akt mediated suppression of inflammation.

Clinical studies have indicated the co-occurrence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and psychiatric disorders, for example, comorbid depression. However, the underlying mechanism is rarely addressed. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism of COPD-induced depression and the psychological and physiological effects of crocin, an active constituent of Crocus sativus L.

A comparison of mutation status in tissue and plasma cell-free DNA detected by ADx-ARMS in advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients.

Background: Previous studies have shown that there are different methods used to detect the epidermal growth factor receptor () mutation status in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients including the ADx-Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ADx-ARMS). We explored the performance of the ADx-ARMS in detecting the mutations in cfDNA.

Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled patients who presented with advanced (stage IIIb/IV) lung adenocarcinoma.

Tetratrichomonas in pyopneumothorax.

Pleural trichomonosis is clinically rare, and very few cases of trichomonal empyema have been reported so far. A rare case of an 81-year-old woman with pyopeumothorax presenting with recurrent fever and macroscopic pyuria was present. Microscopic examination of the pleural effusion showed mobile flagellated protozoa which molecular methods identified as Tetratrichomonas.

The performance of serum cryptococcal capsular polysaccharide antigen test, histopathology and culture of the lung tissue for diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis in patients without HIV infection.

Background: Clinicians may fail to make an early diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC) without HIV infection. Serum cryptococcal capsular polysaccharide antigen (CrAg) test, histopathology and culture of lung tissue play different roles in diagnosis of PC.

Objective: To investigate the performance of serum CrAg test, histopathology and culture of the lung tissue in diagnosis of PC without HIV infection.

Fabrication and Characterization of Short Silicon Nitride Fibers from Direct Nitridation of Ferrosilicon in N₂ Atmosphere.

Short silicon nitride fibers were fabricated by direct nitridation of ferrosilicon in N₂ atmosphere, and their structure and possible growth mechanism were characterized and investigated. The rod-like fibers which were α-Si₃N₄ with a low degree of crystallization and a high aspect ratio had a diameter of about 4 μm and a length close to a few millimeters. Belt-like fibers with a width about 5 μm and a thickness about 1 μm were also found in the nitrides.

Functional Connectivity of Attention-Related Networks in Drug-Naïve Children With ADHD.

This study aimed to explore alterations of seed-based functional connectivity (FC) in dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN), and default mode network (DMN) in ADHD children. A voxel-based comparison of FC maps between 46 drug-naïve children with ADHD and 31 healthy controls (HCs) and correlation analysis between connectivity features and behavior were performed. Compared with the HCs, children with ADHD were characterized by hyperconnectivity between DAN and regions of DMN and by hyperconnectivity between DMN and a set of regions involved in somatosensory, visual, and auditory cortices.

Diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy with combination of adenosine deaminase and interferon-γ immunospot assay in a tuberculosis-endemic population: A prospective cohort study.

The aim of this study was to identify the optimal cut-off value of T cell enzyme-linked immunospot assay for tuberculosis (T-SPOT.TB) and evaluate its diagnostic performance alone (in the peripheral blood) or in combination with the adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity test (in peripheral blood and the pleural fluid) in patients with tuberculous pleurisy.Adult patients presenting with pleural effusion were included in this prospective cohort study.

[Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in pharyngeal tissue of patients with OSAHS correlates with angiogenesis].

Objective: To reseach the correlations between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expressions and angiogenesis in pharyngeal tissue of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

Methods: Biopsies were obtained by uvulopalatopharyngoplasty from 40 patients with mild to severe OSAHS. Control specimens of palatopharyngeal and palatoglossal arch mucosa were retreved from 6 patients with chronic tonsillitis and proved have no related disorders.

[Effect of celecoxib on pulmonary hypertension of chronic hypoxia and hypercapnic rats].

Objective: To study the effect of celecoxib on chronic hypoxia and hypercapnic pulmonary hypertension.

Methods: SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group (A), hypoxic hypercapnic group (B), hypoxic hypercapnia+ celecoxib group (C). The content of TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1alpha in plasma and lung were detected by the technique of radioimmunology.