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In this study, we aimed to investigate the nationwide utilization of antipsychotic drugs (APDs) during radiotherapy and evaluate their association with survival in patients with breast cancer. This retrospective cohort study used the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea and included patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 2010 to 2020 who received radiotherapy. The APDs included in the analysis were aripiprazole, quetiapine, olanzapine, risperidone, haloperidol, and chlorpromazine, and the APD prescription details included prescription time, dosage, and duration. Among 170,226 patients with breast cancer treated with radiotherapy, 3361 (1.97%) received APD during radiotherapy. Use of APDs was significantly associated with higher mortality in all patients and in a subgroup of patients excluding those with metastasis or other cancers. Among patients taking APD during radiotherapy, those with accompanied psychiatric history and long-term APD use for ≥ 3 months were associated with lower mortality, whereas patients who started APD during radiotherapy had higher mortality than those who started APD before radiotherapy. The high mortality observed in breast cancer patients using APDs during radiotherapy could be influenced by the underlying conditions that necessitated APD use. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of APDs during radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cancer causes muscle mass loss, which is associated with a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy may also reduce muscle mass. We investigated skeletal muscle mass change during palliative chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) and its association with treatment outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed 111 consecutive AGC patients who underwent first-line palliative chemotherapy. Skeletal muscle area was measured before and after chemotherapy at the third lumbar vertebra level using computed tomography scans. We compared skeletal muscle index (SMI), body mass index (BMI), and body weight changes to chemotherapy response and survival. The 80 male and 31 female patients' median age was 65 (range 31-87) years, and 46.8% had sarcopenia at baseline. Median pre-chemotherapy to post-chemotherapy SMI, BMI, and body weight decreases were - 4.5 cm 2 /m 2 (- 11.3%) (P < 0.001); - 0.7 kg/m 2 (- 3.2%) (P < 0.001); and - 2.0 kg (- 3.5%) (P < 0.001), respectively. Median SMI decreases for patients with objective response, stable disease, and disease progression were - 4.0 cm 2 /m 2 (range - 20.1 ~ 9.5); - 4.5 cm 2 /m 2 (range - 19.8 ~ 0.8); and - 3.8 cm 2 /m 2 (range: - 17.6 ~ 0.1), respectively. Response to chemotherapy was not associated with SMI decrease (P = 0.463). In multivariable analysis, sarcopenia at baseline (HR 1.681; 95% CI 1.083-2.609, P = 0.021), decreased SMI (HR 1.620; 95% CI 1.041-2.520; P = 0.032) were significant poor prognostic factors for survival. Skeletal muscle mass decreased significantly during chemotherapy in AGC patients, but was not associated with chemotherapy response. Decreased SMI was a poor prognostic factor in AGC patients during first-line palliative chemotherapy.

When a drop is placed on a flat substrate tilted at an inclined angle, it can be deformed by gravity and its initial contact angle divides into front and rear contact angles by inclination. Here we study on evaporation dynamics of a pure water droplet on a flat solid substrate by controlling substrate inclination and measuring mass and volume changes of an evaporating droplet with time. We find that complete evaporation time of an inclined droplet becomes longer as gravitational influence by inclination becomes stronger. The gravity itself does not change the evaporation dynamics directly, whereas the gravity-induced droplet deformation increases the difference between front and rear angles, which quickens the onset of depinning and consequently reduces the contact radius. This result makes the evaporation rate of an inclined droplet to be slow. This finding would be important to improve understanding on evaporation dynamics of inclined droplets.

Capillary bridges are usually formed by a small liquid volume in a confined space between two solid surfaces. They can have a lower internal pressure than the surrounding pressure for volumes of the order of femtoliters. Femtoliter capillary bridges with relatively rapid evaporation rates are difficult to explore experimentally. To understand in detail the evaporation of femtoliter capillary bridges, we present a feasible experimental method to directly visualize how water bridges evaporate between a microsphere and a flat substrate in still air using transmission X-ray microscopy. Precise measurements of evaporation rates for water bridges show that lower water pressure than surrounding pressure can significantly decrease evaporation through the suppression of vapor diffusion. This finding provides insight into the evaporation of ultrasmall capillary bridges.