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Guangdong black teas have diverse flavors and aromas. To explore the molecular basis of these aromas, we extracted and analyzed the volatile flavor compounds of 31 black tea samples from 7 districts (Yingde, Luokeng, Renhua, Meizhou, Chaozhou, Lianshan, and Heyuan) in Guangdong Province with headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Then, 135 volatile flavor compounds (VFCs) were identified and grouped into 12 classes according to their chemical structure. Notably, alcohols accounted for 31.40–44.43% of total VFCs. The score plot of supervised partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed good discrimination for most black tea samples. Additionally, 64 compounds with variable importance in projection > 1.0 were identified as differential odorants. Through an odor activity value analysis, eight volatile compounds were identified as the key active differential VFCs: linalool, methyl salicylate, phenylethyl alcohol, p-cresol, 3-methyl-butanoic acid, geraniol, benzaldehyde, and benzeneacetaldehyde. Thus, benzeneacetaldehyde and linalool in YJ-Yingde samples, benzaldehyde in Luokeng samples with an almond-like aroma, phenylethyl alcohol in the Heyuan samples, and p-cresol and 3-methyl-butanoic acid in the Chaozhou samples were the key volatile flavor compounds that could differentiate local black teas from other black teas. These findings will enrich the research in tea aroma chemistry and provide a method for identifying the origins of Guangdong black teas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild black tea varieties with almond odors were found in Guangdong, China. Few previous studies have investigated their metabolic profile during processing. Herein, we assessed the variations in the chemical components including the volatile flavor compounds and nonvolatile flavor components during black tea processing. Benzaldehyde was responsible for the almond odor and could be used as an indicator for identifying black tea varieties with almond odors because of its relative stability. The contents of aromatic compounds with floral, sweet, and honey-like aromas, such as (E)-geraniol, phenylethyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, β-ionone, α-terpineol, and (Z)-geraniol, were higher in the final drying process than they were in the plucking stage. However, the contents of β-linalool and its oxides and methyl salicylate tended to be lower in the dried black teas. PCA showed that 88.41% of the variation between the aromatic compounds and their odor attributes can be explained by PC1 and PC2. The almond flavor samples were differentiated from the control samples according to PCA. The contents of nonvolatile flavor components such as tea polyphenols, amino acids, soluble carbohydrates and caffeine were significantly lower in the dried black teas. The sensory evaluation suggested that XR black teas had strong and lasting almond odors, while DX-8 had floral and medicinal odors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with N2–3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma have a high risk of treatment being unsuccessful despite the current practice of using a concurrent adjuvant cisplatin–fluorouracil regimen. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of concurrent adjuvant cisplatin–gemcitabine with cisplatin–fluorouracil in N2–3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma. We conducted an open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial at four cancer centres in China. Eligible patients were aged 18–65 years with untreated, non-keratinising, stage T1–4 N2–3 M0 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status score of 0–1, and adequate bone marrow, liver, and renal function. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive concurrent cisplatin (100 mg/m2 intravenously) on days 1, 22, and 43 of intensity-modulated radiotherapy followed by either gemcitabine (1 g/m2 intravenously on days 1 and 8) and cisplatin (80 mg/m2 intravenously for 4 h on day 1) once every 3 weeks or fluorouracil (4 g/m2 in continuous intravenous infusion for 96 h) and cisplatin (80 mg/m2 intravenously for 4 h on day 1) once every 4 weeks, for three cycles. Randomisation was done using a computer-generated random number code with a block size of six, stratified by treatment centre and nodal category. The primary endpoint was 3-year progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population (ie, all patients randomly assigned to treatment). Safety was assessed in all participants who received at least one dose of chemoradiotherapy. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03321539 , and patients are currently under follow-up. From Oct 30, 2017, to July 9, 2020, 240 patients (median age 44 years [IQR 36–52]; 175 [73%] male and 65 [27%] female) were randomly assigned to the cisplatin–fluorouracil group (n=120) or cisplatin–gemcitabine group (n=120). As of data cutoff (Dec 25, 2022), median follow-up was 40 months (IQR 32–48). 3-year progression-free survival was 83·9% (95% CI 75·9–89·4; 19 disease progressions and 11 deaths) in the cisplatin–gemcitabine group and 71·5% (62·5–78·7; 34 disease progressions and seven deaths) in the cisplatin–fluorouracil group (stratified hazard ratio 0·54 [95% CI 0·32–0·93]; log rank p=0·023). The most common grade 3 or worse adverse events that occurred during treatment were leukopenia (61 [52%] of 117 in the cisplatin–gemcitabine group vs 34 [29%] of 116 in the cisplatin–fluorouracil group; p=0·00039), neutropenia (37 [32%] vs 19 [16%]; p=0·010), and mucositis (27 [23%] vs 32 [28%]; p=0·43). The most common grade 3 or worse late adverse event (occurring from 3 months after completion of radiotherapy) was auditory or hearing loss (six [5%] vs ten [9%]). One (1%) patient in the cisplatin–gemcitabine group died due to treatment-related complications (septic shock caused by neutropenic infection). No patients in the cisplatin–fluorouracil group had treatment-related deaths. Our findings suggest that concurrent adjuvant cisplatin–gemcitabine could be used as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with N2–3 nasopharyngeal carcinoma, although long-term follow-up is required to confirm the optimal therapeutic ratio. National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research, Sci-Tech Project Foundation of Guangzhou City, Sun Yat-sen University Clinical Research 5010 Program, Innovative Research Team of High-level Local Universities in Shanghai, Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province for Distinguished Young Scholar, Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, Postdoctoral Innovative Talent Support Program, Pearl River S&T Nova Program of Guangzhou, Planned Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province, Key Youth Teacher Cultivating Program of Sun Yat-sen University, the Rural Science and Technology Commissioner Program of Guangdong Province, and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reirradiation in standard fractionation for locally advanced recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma after a previous course of high-dose radiotherapy is often associated with substantial late toxicity, negating its overall benefit. We therefore aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of hyperfractionation compared with standard fractionation in intensity-modulated radiotherapy. This multicentre, randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial was done in three centres in Guangzhou, China. Eligible patients were aged 18–65 years with histopathologically confirmed undifferentiated or differentiated, non-keratinising, advanced locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to either receive hyperfractionation (65 Gy in 54 fractions, given twice daily with an interfractional time interval of at least 6 h) or standard fractionation (60 Gy in 27 fractions, given once a day). Intensity-modulated radiotherapy was used in both groups. A computer program generated the assignment sequence and randomisation was stratified by treatment centre, recurrent tumour stage (T2–T3 vs T4), and recurrent nodal stage (N0 vs N1–N2), determined at the time of randomisation. The two primary endpoints were the incidence of severe late complications defined as the incidence of grade 3 or worse late radiation-induced complications occurring 3 months after the completion of radiotherapy until the latest follow-up in the safety population, and overall survival defined as the time interval from randomisation to death due to any cause in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02456506. Between July 10, 2015, and Dec 23, 2019, 178 patients were screened for eligibility, 144 of whom were enrolled and randomly assigned to hyperfractionation or standard fractionation (n=72 in each group). 35 (24%) participants were women and 109 (76%) were men. After a median follow-up of 45·0 months (IQR 37·3–53·3), there was a significantly lower incidence of grade 3 or worse late radiation-induced toxicity in the hyperfractionation group (23 [34%] of 68 patients) versus the standard fractionation group (39 [57%] of 68 patients; between-group difference –23% [95% CI –39 to –7]; p=0·023). Patients in the hyperfractionation group had better 3-year overall survival than those in the standard fractionation group (74·6% [95% CI 64·4 to 84·8] vs 55·0% [43·4 to 66·6]; hazard ratio for death 0·54 [95% CI 0·33 to 0·88]; p=0·014). There were fewer grade 5 late complications in the hyperfractionation group (five [7%] nasal haemorrhage) than in the standard fractionation group (16 [24%], including two [3%] nasopharyngeal necrosis, 11 [16%] nasal haemorrhage, and three [4%] temporal lobe necrosis). Hyperfractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy could significantly decrease the rate of severe late complications and improve overall survival among patients with locally advanced recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Our findings suggest that hyperfractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy could be used as the standard of care for these patients. Key-Area Research and Development of Guangdong Province, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Special Support Program for High-level Talents in Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project, and the National Ten Thousand Talents Program Science and Technology Innovation Leading Talents, Sun Yat-Sen University Clinical Research 5010 Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Alkalization-Fenton-Chlorination was proposed to treat electroplating wastewater. • First adding NaOH to pH of 3 produced high-purity Fe(PO 3) 3 precipitates (98.4%). • Second adding Ca(OH) 2 to pH of 9 achieved high pollutants removal (metals, F, P). • Fenton parameters (pH, H 2 O 2 , Fe2+, time) were optimized for COD and Ni removal. • Chlorination parameters (NaClO dosage, time) were optimized for NH 3 -N removal. Electroplating wastewater rich in metal ions and acids has dual attributes of real environmental pollutant and potential resource carrier. Targeting resource recovery and up-to-standard discharge from electroplating wastewater treatment in this study, a hybrid process of stepwise alkalization, Fenton, and chlorination was proposed to treat real electroplating wastewater from Guangzhou, China, where pH was 1.1 and Ag, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, P, F, chemical oxygen demand (COD), NH 3 -N was 624.9, 11266.9, 914.7, 1169.6, 13.8, 1971, 8750.8, 7433.1, 382.3, 451.3 mg/L, respectively. Pollutants removal from liquid phase and precipitates composition were systematically investigated during stepwise alkalization via pH control, showing that first adding NaOH to pH of 3 produced high-purity (98.4 %) Fe(PO 3) 3 precipitates suitable for high value-added resource recovery, second adding Ca(OH) 2 to pH of 9 achieved high pollutants removal (especially F and P) and cost savings, and centrifugation with 2000 g and 10 min was appropriate for precipitates separation. Aiming at COD and chelated/complexed Ni removal from treated electroplating wastewater by stepwise alkalization, the optimal parameters for Fenton process in this study were determined as the initial pH of 3, mass ratio of H 2 O 2 to COD of 2.0, molar ratio of Fe2+ to H 2 O 2 of 1.11, and reaction time of 2 h, under which all pollutants except NH 3 -N met the discharge standards in Guangdong Province, China (DB 44/1597-2015), where the maximum concentration of Ag, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, P, F, COD, NH 3 -N was set as 0.1, 2, 0.5, 0.5, 1, 0.5, 1, 10, 80, 15 mg/L, respectively. Further chlorination treatment via adding NaClO for NH 3 -N removal showed that the optimal molar ratio of NaClO to NH 3 -N was 2.89 and the optimal reaction time was 90 min in this study, under which NH 3 -N removal followed first-order reaction kinetics with rate constant of 0.01831 min−1, NH 3 -N decreased to 12.6 mg/L satisfying the discharge standard, and COD was simultaneously reduced to 26.7 mg/L. These findings demonstrate the proposed hybrid process of stepwise alkalization, Fenton, and chlorination is promising for electroplating wastewater treatment and resource recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]