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Objectives: This study aimed to select patients with cancer-related pain to further analyze the relationship between pain severity, fatigue severity, and quality of life. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A convenience sampling method was used to select 224 patients with cancer-related pain who were undergoing chemotherapy and met the inclusion criteria in two hospitals of two provinces from May to November 2019. All participants were invited to complete a general information questionnaire, the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for pain intensity, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). Results: In the 24 h before completing the scales, 85 patients (37.9%) had mild pain, 121 (54.0%) had moderate pain, and 18 (8.0%) had severe pain. In addition, 92 (41.1%) patients had mild fatigue, 72 (32.1%) had moderate fatigue, and 60 (26.8%) had severe fatigue. Most patients with mild pain only experienced mild fatigue, and their quality of life was also at a moderate level. Patients with moderate and severe pain mostly had moderate or higher levels of fatigue and a lower quality of life. There was no correlation between fatigue and quality of life in patients with mild pain (r = −0.179, P = 0.104). There was a correlation between fatigue and quality of life in patients with moderate and severe pain (r = −0.537, P

Abstract Background The tumor‐stromal ratio (TSR) has been verified to be a prognostic factor in many solid tumors. In most studies, it was manually assessed on routinely stained H&E slides. This study aimed to assess the TSR using image analysis algorithms developed by the Qupath software, and integrate the TSR into a nomogram for prediction of the survival in invasive breast cancer (BC) patients. Methods A modified TSR assessment algorithm based on the recognition of tumor and stroma tissues was developed using the Qupath software. The TSR of 234 invasive BC specimens in H&E‐stained tissue microarrays (TMAs) were assessed with the algorithm and categorized as stroma‐low or stroma‐high. The consistency of TSR estimation between Qupath prediction and pathologist annotation was analyzed. Univariable and multivariable analyses were applied to select potential risk factors and a nomogram for predicting survival in invasive BC patients was constructed and validated. An extra TMA containing 110 specimens was obtained to validate the conclusion as an independent cohort. Results In the discovery cohort, stroma‐low and stroma‐high were identified in 43.6% and 56.4% cases, respectively. Good concordance was observed between the pathologist annotated and Qupath predicted TSR. The Kaplan–Meier curve showed that stroma‐high patients were associated with worse 5‐DFS compared to stroma‐low patients (p = 0.007). Multivariable analysis identified age, T stage, N status, histological grade, ER status, HER‐2 gene, and TSR as potential risk predictors, which were included in the nomogram. The nomogram was well calibrated and showed a favorable predictive value for the recurrence of BC. Kaplan–Meier curves showed that the nomogram had a better risk stratification capability than the TNM staging system. In the external validation of the nomogram, the results were further validated. Conclusions Based on H&E‐stained TMAs, this study successfully developed image analysis algorithms for TSR assessment and constructed a nomogram for predicting survival in invasive BC.

Detailed photophysical processes of two AuCu14 clusters with different substituents (–F or –C(CH3)3) of the thiol ligand were studied in this work. The electronic effect of the substituents led to structural shrinkage, thus enhancing the luminous intensity. The internal conversion (IC) and intersystem crossing (ISC) rates in the AuCu14-C(CH3)3 crystal were slower compared with the AuCu14-F crystal, which was caused by the steric effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed photophysical processes of two AuCu14 clusters with different substituents (–F or –C(CH3)3) of the thiol ligand were studied in this work. The electronic effect of the substituents led to structural shrinkage, thus enhancing the luminous intensity. The internal conversion (IC) and intersystem crossing (ISC) rates in the AuCu14-C(CH3)3 crystal were slower compared with the AuCu14-F crystal, which was caused by the steric effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic pollution has received increasing global and scientific attention in recent years due to its serious impact on ecosystems and human health. As a new advanced oxidation method, Cold Atmospheric Plasmas (CAPs) have been successfully applied to degrade oxytetracycline (OTC) with a large removal rate, high energy efficiency, and environment-friendly requirements; however, the reaction pathways are still unclear. In this study, a reactive Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation is performed to investigate the mechanisms of OTC degradation induced by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in CAPs. The simulations showed the breaking of chemical bonds upon the impact of ROS, such as C–C, C–N, and C–O. In particular, the removal of important functional groups, including the acylamino at the C2 site, the dimethylamine at the C4 site, and the tertiary alcohol at the C12a site, is observed, and the destruction of these key structures indicates the degradation of OTC by reducing the antibacterial ability. The final products revealed by the computational data agree well with the experimental measurements. The dose effects on OTC degradation are also examined by adjusting the numbers of ROS in the simulation box. This study can further enhance the understanding of OTC degradation induced by CAP according to the reactive MD simulation results, unveiling the key pathways of OTC degradation.