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AbstractA rapid and simple solid-state microwave method was used for the synthesis of a ternary nanocomposite comprising nickel sulfide/nickel oxide/carbon nanotubes (NiSx/NiO/CNT). This nanocomposite was subsequently utilized for the electrochemical determination of melamine. Various techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, were employed to characterize the structure and morphology of the material. Additionally, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were utilized to investigate the electrochemical properties. The results indicated that the NiSx/NiO/CNT nanocomposite electrode demonstrated a favorable electrochemical reactivity toward melamine. It displayed a linear range from 10 to 2000 μg/L, a detection limit (DL) as low as 0.017 μg/L, and a sensitivity of up to 83.5 μA/(μM·cm2). The NiSx/NiO/CNT composite demonstrated the ability to detect trace melamine in milk samples, demonstrating its practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Whether locoregional therapy (LRT) should be performed in patients with de novo metastatic breast cancer (dnMBC) has been debated. Here we report the survival outcomes of LRT in patients with dnMBC, focusing on the association of surgical timings and surgical margins with survival in this patient population. Methods: The retrospective study included patients with dnMBC in our hospital, between March 1, 2007 and December 31, 2017. Overall survival (OS) was evaluated by means of a stratified log-rank test and summarized with the use of Kaplan–Meier methods. Results: A total of 153 patients were included, of whom 87 underwent LRT and 66 systemic therapy alone (STA). LRT showed a significant OS benefit over STA (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.99; P = .043). The OS of LRT group and STA group were 39 months (95% CI, 33.6 to 44.4 months) and 24.6 months (95% CI, 20.6 to 28.6 months), respectively. The benefit was consistent across most subgroups. The OS of patients undergoing surgery was better than that of patients without surgery (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.94; P = .0001), and there was difference in survival improvement at different surgical timings (surgery before chemotherapy, during chemotherapy, and after chemotherapy) ( P = .0001). The survival benefit of surgery after chemotherapy was significantly greater than that of the other 2 options (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.94). Moreover, compared with patients with positive margins, the OS of patients with negative margins was significantly improved (HR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.37; P

Background: The striatum has been reported to be implicated in various neurological diseases, including lifelong premature ejaculation (LPE). Altered striatum‐related functional connectivity was investigated in LPE patients in previous studies; however, structural abnormalities in the striatum have been less studied in LPE. Purpose To identify the gray matter volume (GMV) and structural covariance patterns of the striatum between LPE patients and healthy controls (HCs). Study Type: Prospective. Subjects: Forty‐three LPE patients and 31 male HCs. Field Strength/Sequence: 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner; T1‐weighted imaging using a spoiled gradient recalled echo sequence. Assessment Preprocessing of structural MRI data and the striatum‐seeded GMV computation were conducted using SPM12. Statistical Tests: Two sample t‐test was used to compare differences in GMV of the striatum between patients and HCs. Regions showing altered between‐group GMV were considered as seeds for structural covariance analysis in two groups. Additionally, correlations between GMV findings and clinical features were assessed with age and total intracranial volume (TIV) as covariates and with age, TIV, anxiety, and depression scores as covariates in the patient group, P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Compared to HCs, LPE patients had significantly decreased GMV in four regions located in the bilateral caudate and putamen. Distinct striatum‐based structural covariance patterns in the two groups were mainly related to the thalamus, amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, and precuneus/cuneus. LPE patients showed that GMV in the bilateral caudate negatively correlated with the premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) scores (r = −0.369, r = −0.377, respectively). Data Conclusion: Our findings indicated that LPE patients had altered GMV and structural covariance patterns in the striatum compared to HCs. The correlations between abnormal GMV and PEDT were also shown in the present findings. These findings may contribute to enhancing the understanding of the pathophysiology of LPE. Level of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]