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Abstract Background Postoperative infectious complications (ICs) after surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) increase in-hospital deaths and decrease long-term survival. However, the methodology for IC preoperative and intraoperative risk assessment has not yet been established. We aimed to construct a risk model for IC after surgery for CRC. Methods Between January 2016 and June 2020, a total of 593 patients who underwent curative surgery for CRC in Chengdu Second People’s Hospital were enrolled. Preoperative and intraoperative factors were obtained retrospectively. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to screen out risk factors for IC. Then, based on the results of LASSO regression analysis, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the prediction model. Bootstraps with 300 resamples were performed for internal validation. The performance of the model was evaluated with its calibration and discrimination. The clinical usefulness was assessed by decision curve analysis (DCA). Results A total of 95 (16.0%) patients developed ICs after surgery for CRC. Chronic pulmonary diseases, diabetes mellitus, preoperative and/or intraoperative blood transfusion, and longer operation time were independent risk factors for IC. A prediction model was constructed based on these factors. The concordance index (C-index) of the model was 0.761. The calibration curve of the model suggested great agreement. DCA showed that the model was clinically useful. Conclusion Several risk factors for IC after surgery for CRC were identified. A prediction model generated by these risk factors may help in identifying patients who may benefit from perioperative optimization.

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) has been demonstrated to meet the industrial requirements of new-generation semiconductor fabrication. The development of high-power EUV sources is a long-term critical challenge to the implementation of EUVL in high-volume manufacturing (HVM), together with other technologies such as photoresist and mask. Historically, both theoretical studies and experiments have clearly indicated that the CO2 laser-produced plasma (LPP) system is a promising solution for EUVL source, able to realize high conversion efficiency (CE) and output power. Currently, ASML's NXE:3400B EUV scanner configuring CO2 LPP source system has been installed and operated at chipmaker customers. Meanwhile, other research teams have made different progresses in the development of LPP EUV sources. However, in their technologies, some critical areas need to be further improved to meet the requirements of 5 nm node and below. Critically needed improvements include higher laser power, stable droplet generation system and longer collector lifetime. In this paper, we describe the performance characteristics of the laser system, droplet generator and mirror collector for different EUV sources, and also the new development results.

As a prototypical photocatalyst, TiO2 has been extensively studied. An interesting yet puzzling experimental fact was that P25—a mixture of anatase and rutile TiO2— outperforms the individual phases; the origin of this mysterious fact, however, remains elusive. Employing rigorous first-principles calculations, here we uncover a metastable intermediate structure (MIS), which is formed due to confinement at the anatase/rutile interface. The MIS has a high conduction-band minimum level and thus substantially enhances the overpotential of the hydrogen evolution reaction. Also, the corresponding band alignment at the interface leads to efficient separation of electrons and holes. The interfacial confinement additionally creates a wide distribution of the band gap in the vicinity of the interface, which in turn improves optical absorption. These factors all contribute to the enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in P25. Our insights provide a rationale to the puzzling superior photocatalytic performance of P25 and enable a strategy to achieve highly efficient photocatalysis via interface engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron carbide (B4C) coatings have high reflectivity and are widely used as mirrors for free-electron lasers in the x-ray range. However, B4C coatings fabricated by direct-current magnetron sputtering show a strong compressive stress of about −3 GPa. By changing the argon gas pressure and nitrogen-argon gas mixing ratio, we are able to reduce the intrinsic stress to less than −1 GPa for a 50-nm-thick B4C coating. It is found that the stress in a coating deposited at 10 mTorr is −0.69 GPa, the rms roughness of the coating surface is 0.53 nm, and the coating reflectivity is 88%, which is lower than those of coatings produced at lower working pressures. When the working gas contains 8% nitrogen and 92% argon, the B4C coating shows not only −1.19 GPa stress but also a low rms roughness of 0.16 nm, and the measured reflectivity is 93% at the wavelength of 0.154 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]