Search

Clarifying how DC bias fields affect the magnetic properties of soft magnetic composites (SMCs) plays a vital role in optimizing the material design of magnetic components. In this paper, composite SMCs composed of FeSi with high DC-bias performance and FeSiAl with low loss were fabricated using the phosphating process. The microstructure and composition of insulating layers have been systematically studied. The dependence of SMC's magnetic properties on FeSi content under different external bias fields has also been explored in detail. The results showed that the density, saturation magnetic flux density and anti-magnetization capability of FeSiAl/FeSi SMCs were gradually improved with increasing FeSi content. In addition, when the bias field exceeds 200 Oe, the sample with 80 wt% FeSi unexpectedly has the lowest core loss. The Maxwell simulation showed that SMCs with higher FeSi content, under the same external bias field, own weaker magnetization states. This indicates that the DC bias field can obviously change the magnetization state of FeSiAl/FeSi SMCs. Meanwhile, the magnetization state can determine the core loss when samples are subjected to greater DC bias excitations. This work would contribute to revealing the relationship between core loss and magnetization state, providing novel insights into the design of SMCs composition for high-power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy has achieved 40%–50% long-term complete response in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. However, the underlying mechanism of alterations in the tumor microenvironments resulting in CAR-T cell therapy failure needs further investigation. A multi-center phase I/II trial of anti-CD19 CD28z CAR-T (FKC876, ChiCTR1800019661) was conducted. Among 22 evaluable DLBCL patients, seven achieved complete remission, 10 experienced partial remissions, while four had stable disease by day 29. Single-cell RNA sequencing results were obtained from core needle biopsy tumor samples collected from long-term complete remission and early-progressed patients, and compared at different stages of treatment. M2-subtype macrophages were significantly involved in both in vivo and in vitro anti-tumor functions of CAR-T cells, leading to CAR-T cell therapy failure and disease progression in DLBCL. Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments persisted before CAR-T cell therapy, during both cell expansion and disease progression, which could not be altered by infiltrating CAR-T cells. Aberrant metabolism profile of M2-subtype macrophages and those of dysfunctional T cells also contributed to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments. Thus, our findings provided a clinical rationale for targeting tumor microenvironments and reprogramming immune cell metabolism as effective therapeutic strategies to prevent lymphoma relapse in future designs of CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fe-5.5wt%Si soft magnetic composites (SMCs) with outstanding magnetic properties at low frequency are prepared by hot compaction combined with H3PO4 passivation. The influences of H3PO4 dosage and hot compaction on microstructures and magnetic properties of the SMCs were investigated in detail. Compared with cold compaction, air gaps in the hot-compacted SMCs can be significantly reduced, leading to remarkable improvement of the core’s density and maximum permeability. With the H3PO4 dosage decreasing, both the density and the maximum permeability increase. This results in the improvement of the hysteresis loss, but causes the deterioration of the eddy current loss, which makes the total loss increase after an initial decrease with the H3PO4 dosage. The hot-compacted SMC treated with 1.2 wt% H3PO4 is found to possess lower loss than Somaloy® 110i 5P of Höganäs and higher permeability than cold-compacted SMCs. This work might provide novel reference for designing soft magnetic composites with good magnetic properties in low frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To provide evidence-based medicine references for formulating prevention and control policies in plateau areas, we explore the characteristics of anemia patients in Tibet (the plateau areas of China), especially those located at an altitude above 4500 m. We collected clinical data from 379 Tibetan anemia patients over the age of 18 years. We found those female patients accounted for the majority of Tibetan anemia patients. Almost half of the anemia patients aged from 28 to 47 years. The percentage of severe anemia and extremely severe anemia was 45.4% and 2.4%, respectively. 88.7% of patients are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, and 81.5% of patients just graduated from primary school or below. The most common causes of anemia were nutritional anemia, especially iron-deficiency anemia. At high-altitude localities, folic acid-deficiency anemia needs more attention. Overall, this study showed that altitude influences the incidence, severity, and cause of anemia. Peasants and herdsmen, low education levels, young and middle-aged women, and nutrition status should be paid attention to in future anemia control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the lack of therapists and the demand for objective rehabilitation training indicators, the upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton (ULR-EXO) has attracted more and more concentration. Execution and perception are the two most important technologies of ULR-EXO. A unified analysis of their essential anatomical characteristics and rehabilitation training needs will help to understand the future development trend of the ULR-EXO. According to the anatomical and kinematic features of the upper limb, combined with human-robot compatibility, this paper introduces the structural design of the ULR-EXO, the classification of execution, and the existing problems, summarizes the status quo of perceptual information, and classifies signal sources according to the signals generated by stroke patients in human-robot interaction. This paper also briefly summarizes the control methods of the ULR-EXO in different rehabilitation stages. Finally, based on the two stages of hospital treatment and family rehabilitation, the design requirements of the ULR-EXO and the selection of sensors based on different mechanism forms are discussed, which provides some reference values for researchers in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as a promising novel therapeutic approach. However, primary and secondary resistance to CAR-T cell therapy is commonly encountered in various clinical trials. Despite the comprehensive studies to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance, effective resolution in clinical practice is still elusive. Inadequate persistence and subsequent loss of infused CAR-T cells are proposed major resistance mechanism associated with CAR-T cell treatment failure. Thus, we generated CAR-T cells armored with IL-7 to prolong the persistence of infused T-cells, particularly CD4 + T cells, and enhanced anti-tumor response. IL-7 increased CAR-T-cell persistence in vivo and contributed to the distinct T-cell cytotoxicity profile. Using mass cytometry (CyTOF), we further assessed the phenotypic and metabolic profiles of IL-7-secreting CAR-T cells, along with conventional CAR-T cells at the single-cell level. With in-depth analysis, we found that IL-7 maintained CAR-T cells in a less differentiated T-cell state, regulated distinct metabolic activity, and prevented CAR-T-cell exhaustion, which could be essential for CAR-T cells to maintain their metabolic fitness and anti-tumor response. Our findings thus provided clinical rationale to exploit IL-7 signaling for modulation and metabolic reprogramming of T-cell function to enhance CAR-T cell persistence and induce durable remission upon CAR-T cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Also, the 2-year OS rate was 67.7% for patients with interim Deauville 5, significantly shorter than that for patients with interim Deauville 1-3 (95.8%, I P i = 0.003, Fig. With a median follow-up of 26.4 (7.5-64.0) months, the 2-year PFS rate was 20.0% for patients with interim Deauville 5, significantly shorter than that for patients with interim Deauville 1-3 (93.4%, I P i < 0.001) or Deauville 4 (69.3%, I P i = 0.012, Fig. However, we noticed that according to the Deauville criteria, all 36 patients are of Deauville 1-4, with clinical outcomes of patients with Deauville 5 remaining unclear. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: To develop a weakly supervised deep learning (WSDL) method that could utilize incomplete/missing survival data to predict the prognosis of extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL) based on pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT results. Methods: One hundred and sixty-seven patients with ENKTL who underwent pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively collected. Eighty-four patients were followed up for at least 2 years (training set = 64, test set = 20). A WSDL method was developed to enable the integration of the remaining 83 patients with incomplete/missing follow-up information in the training set. To test generalization, these data were derived from three types of scanners. Prediction similarity index (PSI) was derived from deep learning features of images. Its discriminative ability was calculated and compared with that of a conventional deep learning (CDL) method. Univariate and multivariate analyses helped explore the significance of PSI and clinical features. Results: PSI achieved area under the curve scores of 0.9858 and 0.9946 (training set) and 0.8750 and 0.7344 (test set) in the prediction of progression-free survival (PFS) with the WSDL and CDL methods, respectively. PSI threshold of 1.0 could significantly differentiate the prognosis. In the test set, WSDL and CDL achieved prediction sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 87.50% and 62.50%, 83.33% and 83.33%, and 85.00% and 75.00%, respectively. Multivariate analysis confirmed PSI to be an independent significant predictor of PFS in both the methods. Conclusion: The WSDL-based framework was more effective for extracting 18F-FDG PET/CT features and predicting the prognosis of ENKTL than the CDL method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal-type (ENKTL) is a type of rare and distinct entity of non-Hodgkin lymphoma with poor prognosis. It is important to evaluate the early treatment response accurately to decide further treatment strategy. 18F-FDG PET/CT plays an important role in response evaluation and prognostic prediction in some kinds of lymphomas. However, data available regarding patients with ENKTL are limited. Thus, in this prospective study, we analyzed the prognostic value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in ENKTL. Thirty-four patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL were enrolled in this phase 2 study (NCT02825147, July 7, 2016). The patients received pre-, mid-, and end-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT scans. Deauville score (DS), maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax), and the change in SUVmax (ΔSUVmax) were recorded for response assessment. The median follow-up period was 42.2 months. The 2-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 82.4% and 73.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that Ann Arbor stage (P < 0.002), mid-treatment DS (P = 0.005), mid-SUVmax (P = 0.001), mid-∆SUVmax (P = 0.004), end-treatment DS (P < 0.001), and end-SUVmax (P = 0.014) were prognostic factors for OS. Ann Arbor stage (P = 0.001), mid-treatment DS (P = 0.008), mid-SUVmax (P = 0.029), mid-∆SUVmax (P < 0.001), and end-treatment DS (P =0.021) were of prognostic significance for PFS. Multivariate analysis showed that mid-SUVmax (P = 0.042) and DS at the middle (P = 0.050) and end (P = 0.044) of treatment were significant independent predictors of PFS. 18F-FDG PET/CT is useful for predicting the prognosis of ENKTL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and portable microfluidic electrochemical array device (μFED) was developed for the immunoassay of trace amounts of human cardiac troponin I (cTnI), which is an attractive biomarker for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The classical "sandwich" method was adopted for the immunoassay. The capture antibody was immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) technique, and the process was reorganized to be compatible with the bonding process. The detection antibody was labeled with alkaline phosphatase (AP) for signal amplification. The performance of the μFED was improved by eliminating the shielding effect of the microelectrode array (MEA) integrated in the μFED. The effects of the interstice and the width of the MEA on the response peak current were analyzed and simulated. The concentration gradient, about 3% of the gradient at the surface, was considered as the criterion for estimation of the optimal interstice between electrodes, and its effectiveness was proved. A stable and miniaturized reference electrode was integrated in the μFED, and its potential deviation was less than 5 mV in 15 min. These efforts resulted in the enhanced immunoassay performance of the μFED. A low limit of detection of about 5 pg/mL was obtained in serum samples, and the response current was proportional to the logarithm of concentration from 50 pg/mL to 1 μg/mL. The immunoassay process was accomplished in 15 min. The μFED was thus qualified and is a promising candidate for point-of-care immunoassay of cTnI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) increase the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and contribute to poor prognosis of patients. However, the association between immunologic markers and clinical outcome has rarely been investigated. This study aims to analyze the prognostic value of pretreatment immunologic markers in newly diagnosed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We retrospectively reviewed the data on 502 patients with DLBCL treated in our institution from January 2013 to March 2018. Survival functions were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression model. The 3-year progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were 70.2% and 80.9%, respectively, and the complete remission (CR) rate was 78.1%. Among the patients, those with multiple ( ⩾ 3) abnormal immunologic markers had significantly shorter 3-year PFS (52.7% vs. 77.3%, P < 0.001) and OS (68.5% vs. 85.8%, P = 0.001) than those without multiple abnormal immunologic markers. Multivariate analysis revealed that the presence of multiple abnormal immunologic markers and the elevated serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase were the independent adverse prognostic factors for PFS (P = 0.008, P < 0.001) and OS (P = 0.003, P < 0.001). Meanwhile, advanced Ann Arbor stage was an independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS (P = 0.001) and age > 60 years for OS (P = 0.014). In conclusion, the immunologic status was closely related to lymphoma progression, and this study provides new insights into the risk stratification of patients with DLBCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pull-in instability continues to become increasingly important for the inertia switch owing the lower pull-in voltage. The model of double cantilever beam was used to reduce the pull-in voltage. Mathematical model of the pull-in voltage could be built to understand what influence the processing errors of structure parameters make on the stability of pull-in voltage. Based on this model verified by simulation, the control method could be put forward to improve the stability of pull-in voltage. With the help of LIGA technology and the measure system built based on the architect platform, the experimental results showed that the used control method was better, which had been validated by corresponding experiments. According to the established model, the pull-in voltage of different structures showed that the structure proposed in this paper had a lower pull-in voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A plasmonic photocatalyst composite based on Ag@AgCl and activated sepiolite was successfully synthesized by a two-step method. The composite was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. SEM images show cube-like Ag@AgCl deposits on the surface of tube-like activated sepiolite. In the photocatalytic experiment, results show that the degradation ratio of bisphenol A with AS-50 is 1.82 times higher than that with Ag@AgCl. Moreover, the degradation ratio of bisphenol A with Ag@AgCl-activated sepiolite was nearly 100 % within 120 min under visible light. This excellent catalytic ability is mainly attributed to the formed Ag nanoparticles and high separation efficiency of the electron-hole pairs on the catalyst surface. The main reactive species indicated that ·O plays an important role in the photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A. A possible photocatalytic mechanism of Ag@AgCl-activated sepiolite composite was also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies comprise a group of heterogeneous diseases that vary in clinicopathological features, biological behavior, treatment response, and prognosis. Bone marrow (BM) infiltration is more commonly present in mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies compared with their B-cell counterparts and hence important for differential diagnosis. In this study, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors were analyzed in 225 patients with mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies treated in a single institution. These included 29 cases of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (T-LPD, all with BM infiltration) and 196 cases of T-/natural-killer-cell lymphoma (T/NKCL, 56 with BM infiltration and 140 without BM infiltration). The estimated 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of T-LPD and T/NKCL were 96.6% and 37.3%, respectively. T-LPD patients were less likely to exhibit poor performance status, advanced disease stage, presence of B symptoms, or abnormal level of serum β-2 microglobulin. With similar pathological characteristics, T/NKCL patients with BM infiltration showed significantly lower response rates and shorter OS than those without BM infiltration ( P = 0.0264 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Multivariate analysis indicated that poor performance status, advanced disease stage, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase level, and BM involvement were independent unfavorable prognostic factors. The Glasgow Prognostic Score may be more efficient than the International Prognostic Index in predicting disease outcome in T/NKCL. In conclusion, clinical characteristics may be useful in more effectively stratifying patients with mature T-cell lymphoid malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral T cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) is a heterogeneous subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This study aims to better define the prognostic factors and compare the predictive value of the prognostic scores in Chinese patients with PTCL-NOS. One hundred and five patients diagnosed as PTCL-NOS from our institution were retrospectively studied and grouped according to four previously described prognostic scores [International Prognostic Index (IPI), Prognostic Index for PTCL-NOS (PIT), modified PIT (m-PIT), and International PTCL Project (IPTCLP)]. In addition to clinical parameters, peripheral lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia, serum Epstein-Barr virus positivity, and tumor Ki-67 were significantly associated with poor disease outcome. Multivariate analysis revealed that age >60 years, poor performance status, elevated lactic dehydrogenase, and bone marrow involvement were independent adverse variables for survival. All prognostic scores were successful for survival estimation. Risk subgroups in IPI and PIT could be further discriminated by platelet count (IPTCLP factor) and Ki-67 (m-PIT factor), respectively. Together, patient- and tumor-specific characteristics may be incorporated in risk stratification of PTCL-NOS patients. The prognostic scores could be mutually active to improve their predictive value of disease outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]