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To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of combining ultrasound-guided sharp needle technique with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for treating outflow stenosis or dysfunction in arteriovenous fistula (AVF) among hemodialysis patients. From October 2021 to March 2023, patients with occluded or malfunctional fistula veins not amenable to regularly angioplasty were retrospectively enrolled in the study. They underwent ultrasound-guided sharp needle intervention followed by PTA. Data on the location and length between the two veins, technical success, clinical outcomes, and complications were collected. Patency rates post-angioplasty were calculated through Kaplan-Meier analysis. A total of 23 patients were included. The mean length of the reconstructed extraluminal segment was 3.18 cm. The sharp needle opening was performed on the basilic vein (60.9%), brachial vein (26.1%), or upper arm cephalic vein (13%) to create outflow channels. Postoperatively, all cases presented with mild subcutaneous hematomas around the tunneling site and minor diffuse bleeding. The immediate patency rate for the internal fistulas was 100%, with 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month patency rates at 91.3%, 78.3%, and 43.5%, respectively. Sharp needle technology merged with PTA presents an effective and secure minimally invasive method for reconstructing the outflow tract, offering a new solution for recanalizing high-pressure or occluded fistulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Electron localization is the primary reason for the ineffective charge separation process at the porphyrin-based MOF ligands. • Introducing Cu species into the conjugated framework allows efficient electron transitions by delocalizing the π-electrons. • Cu-induced electron delocalization significantly enhances the removal rate of ciprofloxacin. • The delocalized π-electrons are transferred to the Cu site for efficient activation of PDS to generate OH and SO 4 − . Photocatalytic persulfate activation provides a promising approach for the elimination of persistent organic pollutants from water. This has been exemplified in porphyrin-based metal organic frameworks (PMOFs), which however come with ineffective electron transition within the porphyrin ligand. Herein, we present a Cu ion modification strategy capable of boosting electron transition by inducing electron delocalization under visible light. The introduction of Cu ions increased the degradation rate constant of ciprofloxacin (CIP) by nearly 44 times, surpassing most state-of-the-art photocatalysts. The in-situ characterizations and theoretical calculations suggest that π-electron localization constitutes the origin of ineffective electron transition in PMOFs. The introduction of Cu ions induces π-electron delocalization to intensify the π → π* transition, forming electron-rich centers of Cu to lower the energy barrier for O-O bond cleavage. This work offers fundamental insights into the electron transition within PMOFs, upon which the universal strategy is proposed for improved water decontamination performance via persulfate activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to access the correlations of RENAL, PADUA and NePhRO scores with operative complications, chronic kidney disease (CKD) upstaging, and oncologic outcomes after CT-guided percutaneous Microwave Ablation (MWA) of renal tumors in order to determine their status as independent predictors of outcomes after MWA. This study also aimed to generally evaluate the efficacy of MWA in treating renal tumors.Methods: From January 2017 to December 2019, 18 patients with 27 renal tumors who had undergone simultaneous biopsy and MWA were recruited in this single-center retrospective study. Data collection included tumor characteristics, procedural protocols, complications, CKD upstaging data, local tumor control data and overall survival. All lesions were evaluated using RENAL, PADUA and NePhRO scores, and further analysis was performed to determine whether the scores were correlated with operative complications, CKD upstaging, local tumor control and overall survival.Results: The minor and major complication rates were 16.7% and 0%, respectively. Two patients with solitary kidney experienced CKD upstaging. Local tumor recurrence was identified in one type of tumor (3.7%) in the first year of follow-up. L. parameter (P = .031), longitudinal (polar) location score (P = .011), Ne. parameter (P = .036), number of kidneys (P = .005), and number of lesions (P = .008), were predictive factors significantly associated with the occurrence of complications. Besides, CKD upstaging was associated with A. parameter (P = .032) and urinary collecting system score (P = .028). RENAL, PADUA, and NePhRO scores were significantly correlated with complications, overall survival, and CKD upstaging, respectively (P < .05).Conclusion: CT-guided percutaneous MWA was found to be a valuable alternative in the treatment of renal tumors for selected patients. Furthermore, RENAL, PADUA and NePhRO scores were not independent predictors of outcomes of MWA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the study was to explore the outcomes of computed tomography‐guided microwave ablation (MWA) in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with adjacent lobe invasion (ALI), and to compare the outcomes of ALI‐NSCLC and non‐ALI NSCLC patients after MWA. Methods: A total of 319 NSCLC patients and 366 tumors treated with MWA were included in the study, comprising 34 ALI‐NSCLC patients and 285 non‐ALI NSCLC patients. Complications, local recurrence rates, progression‐free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the correlation between ALI and the occurrence of pneumothorax after MWA. Results: The mean tumor diameter of ablated tumors was 3.6 ± 2.2 cm. There were 95 (29.8%) NSCLC patients in which pneumothorax occurred after MWA, and all patients recovered. Of these, the ALI group had a significantly higher incidence rate of pneumothorax than the non‐ALI group (52.9% vs. 27.0%, p = 0.002). The median PFS and OS for the ALI group were 12.0 ± 10.2 and 15.5 ± 9.5 months, respectively, and that of the non‐ALI group were 13.0 ± 10.6 and 17.0 ± 11.1 months, respectively, and no significant difference was found in PFS (p = 0.329) nor OS (p = 0.394) between the two groups. Local recurrence rates for ALI and non‐ALI groups were 29.4% and 20.7%, respectively, and no significant difference was found (p = 0.244). Logistic regression analyses revealed that ALI can increase the risk of pneumothorax (hazard ratio [HR], 2.867; p = 0.012). Conclusions: MWA is an effective and safe approach for ALI‐NSCLC treatment. Although ALI can increase the risk of pneumothorax, ALI‐NSCLC patients reveal a comparable outcome to non‐ALI NSCLC patients after MWA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryoablation (CA), high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), irreversible electroporation (IRE), and vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) have been evaluated as novel strategies for selected patients with prostate cancer (PCa). We aim to determine the current status of literature regarding the clinical outcomes among these minimally invasive therapies. A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for all English literature published from January 2001 to December 2019 was conducted to identify studies evaluating outcomes of CA, HIFU, IRE or VTP on PCa. Proportionality with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was performed using STATA version 14.0. 56 studies consisting of 7383 participants were found to report data of interest and fulfilled the inclusion criteria in the final meta-analysis. The pooled proportions of positive biopsy after procedure were 20.0%, 24.3%, 24.2%, and 36.2% in CA, HIFU, IRE and VTP, respectively. The pooled proportions of BRFS were 75.7% for CA and 74.4% for HIFU. The pooled proportions of CSS were 96.1%, 98.2%, and 97.9% for CA, HIFU, and IRE, respectively. The pooled proportions of OS were 92.8% for CA and 85.2% for HIFU. The pooled proportions of FFS were 64.7%, 90.4%, and 76.7% for CA, IRE and VTP, respectively. The pooled proportions of MFS were 92.8% for HIFU and 99.1% for IRE. This meta-analysis shows that CA, HIFU, IRE, and VTP are promising therapies for PCa patients with similar clinical outcomes. However, further larger, well-designed randomized controlled trials are required to confirm this assertion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detection holds promise for genetic analyses and quantitative assessment of tumor burden. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the clinical relevance of ctDNA among patients with localized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched for eligible studies published from January 2001 to April 2022. After quality assessments and data extraction, diagnostic accuracy variables and prognostic data were calculated and analyzed by Meta-Disc 1.4, Review Manager 5.4.1, and STATA 17.0. Eight prospective studies and one retrospective study including 784 patients with localized NSCLC were used in our meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of ctDNA for minimal residual disease (MRD) detection were 0.58 and 0.93, respectively. The pooled positive and negative likelihood ratios were 7.57 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.84–20.20) and 0.45 (95% CI 0.37–0.55), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.8967, and the diagnostic odds ratio was 32.26 (95% CI 14.63–71.12). In addition, both precurative-treatment and postcurative-treatment ctDNA positivity was associated with worse recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio (HR), 3.82 and 8.32, respectively) and worse overall survival (HR, 3.82 and 4.73, respectively). The findings suggested that ctDNA detection has beneficial utility regarding MRD detection specificity; moreover, positive ctDNA was associated with poor prognosis in patients with localized NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) chromophores have received a lot of attention due to their wide range of applications in nonlinear optical materials. In this work, we introduced an electron-rich benzothiadiazole group into the classical organic nonlinear material dimethylaminonitrostilben (DANS), which improved the efficiency of ICT and increased the dipole moment difference between the ground state and the excited state of the chromophore. We synthesized three benzothiadiazole derivatives, and the nonlinear optical properties of these chromophores were characterized by the Z-scan method. The nonlinear response is one order of magnitude higher than that of DANS. The analysis of UV-vis absorption spectra combined with the results of DFT theoretical calculations revealed the difference in the dipole moment between the ground and excited states. The difference in the dipole moments (Δμ) between the ground state and excited state is responsible for the different nonlinear properties. The refractive indices n2 of the three chromophores increase in the following order: BTN-2 > BTN-1 > BTN-3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four o‐carborane‐based aggregation‐induced emission molecules with ultra‐large Stokes shifts were designed and synthesized. To explore the origin of the ultra‐large Stokes shifts (Δλ ≈ 268–294 nm) of the four target molecules, a new molecule named CZ‐Ph‐PO was synthesized by replacing the o‐carborane unit in CZ‐CB‐PO with a benzene ring. It was found that the ultra‐large Stokes shift was the result of the combined action of diphenylphosphinyl and o‐carborane, in which o‐carborane was the key group. In addition, combined with the single crystal structure analysis, the effect of halogens on molecular photophysical properties was investigated. Our work provides a reference for the design and synthesis of o‐carborane‐based fluorescent molecules with ultra‐large Stokes shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donor-acceptor (D-A) diaryl maleimides have received widespread attention due to their outstanding aggregation-enhanced emissive (AEE) properties. Herein, we report a novel rectangular D-A conjugated macrocyclic tetramaleimide with two phenyl and two 2,7-pyrene moieties as the sidewalls, while the maleimides as four corner linkers via dynamic and reversible Perkin reactions under thermodynamic control. Due to the sensitive D-A conjugation effects resulted from the multipole moments by four maleimides, such unique macrocycle exhibits unusual solvatochromic luminescent properties with a typical D-A charge transfer (CT) emission feature in the polar solvents, but pyrene-like emission characteristics in the nonpolar solvents regardless of the concentrations. A novel rectangular D-A conjugated macrocyclic tetramaleimide has been synthesized via dynamic and reversible Perkin reactions, which exhibits unusual solvatochromic luminescent properties. [Display omitted] • A facile synthetic pathway for rectangular D-A conjugated macrocyclic maleimides have been developed. • Dynamic covalent Perkin reactions have been demostrated to be an efficient synthetic pathway for macrocyclic maleimides. • The obtained macrocyclic maleimides exhibit unexpected solvatochromic luminescent properties. • The obtained macrocyclic maleimides exhibit a typical D-A charge transfer (CT) emission feature in the polar solvents. • The obtained macrocyclic maleimides exhibit pyrene-like emssions in carbon tetrachloride. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work demonstrates that the photoreduction of hexavalent chromium using iron-based metal organic framework was able to be enhanced through doping molybdenum disulfide. The 1.5 wt % molybdenum disulfide doped iron-based metal organic framework exhibited the best photocatalytic activity towards hexavalent chromium reduction with an efficiency of 98.8% over 60 min, accompanied by remarkable repeatability and stability. The enhancement of photocatalytic efficiency could be achieved by (i) relieving the recombination process of photogenerated carriers in iron-based metal organic framework resulting from the formation of heterojunction, (ii) reducing photogenerated electrons transfer resistance from the interior to the surface of iron-based metal organic framework because of favorable electron transfer of molybdenum disulfide, and (iii) regulating the positive charge distribution on the surface of iron-based metal organic framework. Importantly, nanosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy further disclosed that the doping of molybdenum disulfide fundamentally improved the utilization of photogenerated electrons. This work evidences the important role of heterojunction from a microscopic perspective, which provides inspiration for the preparation of highly-efficient environmental functional photocatalysts based on iron-based metal organic frameworks. [Display omitted] • Elegant visible-light-driven MoS 2 @Fe-MOF photocatalysts were fabricated. • Unique adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) was given as a prerequisite for photoreduction. • Accelerated Cr(VI) reduction was due to heterojunction and improved conductivity. • Nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy proved heterojunction existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop effective nomograms for predicting pneumothorax and delayed pneumothorax after microwave ablation (MWA) in lung malignancy (LM) patients. LM patients treated with MWA were randomly allocated to a training or validation cohort at a ratio of 7:3. The predictors of pneumothorax identified by univariate and multivariate analyses in the training cohort were used to develop a predictive nomogram. The C-statistic was used to evaluate predictive accuracy in both cohorts. A second nomogram for predicting delayed pneumothorax was developed and validated using identical methods. A total of 552 patients (training cohort: n = 402; validation cohort: n = 150) were included; of these patients, 27.9% (154/552) developed pneumothorax, with immediate and delayed pneumothorax occurring in 18.8% (104/552) and 9.1% (50/552), respectively. The predictors selected for the nomogram of pneumothorax were emphysema (hazard ratio [HR], 6.543; p <.001), history of lung ablation (HR, 7.841; p=.025), number of pleural punctures (HR, 1.416; p <.050), ablation zone encompassing pleura (HR, 10.225; p <.001) and pulmonary fissure traversed by needle (HR, 10.776; p <.001). The C-statistics showed good predictive performance in the training and validation cohorts (0.792 and 0.832, respectively). Another nomogram for delayed pneumothorax was developed based on emphysema (HR, 2.952; p=.005), ablation zone encompassing pleura (HR, 4.915; p <.001) and pulmonary fissure traversed by needle (HR, 4.348; p =.015). The C-statistics showed good predictive performance in the training cohort, and it had efficacy for prediction in the validation cohort (0.719 and 0.689, respectively). The nomograms could effectively predict the risk of pneumothorax and delayed pneumothorax after MWA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop an effective nomogram and artificial neural network (ANN) model for predicting pleural effusion after percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) in lung malignancy (LM) patients. LM patients treated with MWA were randomly allocated to either the training cohort or the validation cohort (7:3). The predictors of pleural effusion identified by univariable and multivariable analyses in the training cohort were used to develop a nomogram and ANN model. The C-statistic was used to evaluate the predictive accuracy in both the training and validation cohorts. A total of 496 patients (training cohort: n = 357; validation cohort: n = 139) were enrolled in this study. The predictors selected into the nomogram for pleural effusion included the maximum power (hazard ratio [HR], 1.060; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.022–1.100, p = 0.002), the number of pleural punctures (HR, 2.280; 95% CI, 1.103–4.722; p = 0.026) and the minimum distance from needle to pleura (HR, 0.840; 95% CI, 0.775–0.899; p < 0.001). The C-statistic showed good predictive performance in both cohorts, with a C-statistic of 0.866 (95% CI, 0.787–0.945) internally and 0.782 (95% CI, 0.644–0.920) externally (training cohort and validation cohort, respectively). The optimal cutoff value for the risk of pleural effusion was 0.16. Maximum power, number of pleural punctures and minimum distance from needle to pleura were predictors of pleural effusion after MWA in LM patients. The nomogram and ANN model could effectively predict the risk of pleural effusion after MWA. Patients showing a high risk (>0.16) on the nomogram should be monitored for pleural effusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are widely adopted to mediate heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction, but poor charge separation efficiency in iron-oxo clusters of MOF usually results in the dull Fe(III)/Fe(II) transformation. In this study, ligand-to-cluster charge transfer (LCCT) excitations were first introduced to photo-Fenton process toward accelerating Fe(III)/Fe(II) transformation by constructing new iron-based MOF nanorods with porphyrin ligand (Fe-TCPP). Fe-TCPP with LCCT excitations showed a maximum kinetic constant of 0.23 min-1 for ciprofloxacin (CIP) degradation at neutral pH under visible light irradiation, which is remarkably better than most of the state-of-the-art photocatalysts. Experimental and theoretical analyses collaboratively verify that LCCT excitations within Fe-TCPP dramatically accelerate Fe(III)/Fe(II) transformation, which generate more ∙OH for quick CIP elimination. Additionally, this LCCT excitations strategy is also effective for the photo-Fenton-like system induced by copper-based MOFs. Our study presents a novel strategy to intensify MOFs based photo-Fenton/Fenton-like processes, upon which the high-efficiency contaminant removal is expected. [Display omitted] • LCCT excitations were first introduced to MOFs based photo-Fenton process. • Fe-TCPP with LCCT excitations displayed best antibiotic degradation performance. • LCCT excitations occurrence within Fe-TCPP was identified by different methods. • LCCT excitations within Fe-TCPP speed Fe(III)/Fe(II) transformation and ∙OH generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 2 figures and 2 tables Abstract An extraction and detection method was reported for fat- and water-soluble components in primary soybean seed. The HPLC retention times were 10 min for lutein, 23 min for δ-tocopherol, 27 min for γ-tocopherol, 30 min for α-tocopherol, 33 min for α-carotene and 39 min for β-carotene. The retention times of the isoflavones were 7 min for daidzin, 11 min for genistin, 15 min for malonyldaidzin and 20 min for malonylgenistin. Linear regression and two-way anova analysis were performed, and the test results indicated that there was a significant correlation ( r2 = 0.9973, P < 0.0001) and no significant difference (P = 0.8862 > 0.05) between the traditional method and the proposed method. Moreover, the strain '07-27', which has high α-tocopherol and isoflavone contents in the F2 : 3 lines (F2-derived lines in F3), was screened and then crossed between a high-isoflavone soybean variety, 'Toiku 241', and a high-α-tocopherol soybean variety, 'Keszthelyi A.S.' (pollen parent). The contents of α-tocopherol and total isoflavones were 8.91 and 622.96 mg/100 g DW, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]