Second primary malignancy for early-stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by SEER17 registries.

OBJECTIVE: Investigating treatment modalities' association with second primary malignancy risk in early-stage head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). METHODS: Data of 5-year survivors of early-stage (stages I-II, seventh TNM staging manual) HNSCC from 2000 to 2020 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Standardized incidence ratio and excess absolute risk were used to assess second primary malignancy (SPM) development externally. Relative risk was estimated to compare SPM risk within groups. Fine-Gray's model estimated cumulative incidence of second primary malignancy. RESULTS: Overall, 8957 5-year survivors with early-stage HNSCC were enrolled. Patients receiving definitive radiotherapy had poorer survival than surgery patients. Surgery correlated with lower risk of second primary malignancy (RR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.80-0.99), especially for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (RR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.39-0.82). Differences in the risk of second primary malignancy among subgroups based on clinical characteristics were not significant. Treatment modalities did not significantly affect risk of second primary malignancy within each subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery led to better survival and lower risk of second primary malignancy compared to definitive radiotherapy in 5-year survivors. Incidence and sites of second primary malignancy varied by primary sites, emphasizing targeted long-term surveillance's importance.

Solvent-Free Nanofabrication Based on Ice-Assisted Electron-Beam Lithography.

Advances in electron-beam lithography (EBL) have fostered the prominent development of functional micro/nanodevices. Nonetheless, traditional EBL is predominantly applicable to large-area planar substrates and often suffers from chemical contamination and complex processes for handling resists. This paper reports a streamlined and ecofriendly approach to implement e-beam patterning on arbitrary shaped substrates, exemplified by solvent-free nanofabrication on optical fibers. The procedure starts with the vapor deposition of water ice as an electron resist and ends in the sublimation of the ice followed by a "blow-off" process. Without damage and contamination from chemical solvents, delicate nanostructures and quasi-3D structures are easily created. A refractive index sensor is further demonstrated by decorating plasmonic nanodisk arrays on the end face of a single-mode fiber. Our study provides a fresh perspective in EBL-based processing, and more exciting research exceeding the limits of traditional approaches is expected.

Three-Dimensional in Situ Electron-Beam Lithography Using Water Ice.

Three-dimensional (3D) nanofabrication techniques are of paramount importance in nanoscience and nanotechnology because they are prerequisites to realizing complex, compact, and functional 3D nanodevices. Although several 3D nanofabrication methods have been proposed and developed in recent years, it is still a formidable challenge to achieve a balance among resolution, accuracy, simplicity, and adaptability. Here, we propose a 3D nanofabrication method based on electron-beam lithography using ice resists (iEBL) and fabricate 3D nanostructures by stacking layered structures and those with dose-modulated exposure, respectively. The entire process of 3D nanofabrication is realized in one vacuum system by skipping the spin-coating and developing steps required for commonly used resists. This needs far fewer processing steps and is contamination-free compared with conventional methods. With in situ alignment and correction in the iEBL process, a pattern resolution of 20 nm and an alignment error below 100 nm can be steadily achieved. This 3D nanofabrication technique using ice thus shows great potential in the fabrication of complicated 3D nanodevices.

Au80Sn20-based targeted noncontact nanosoldering with low power consumption.

Energy-efficient nanosoldering technology for realizing connections at the nanoscale is a long-sought-after goal for constructing advanced optoelectronic nanodevices. However, the ability to achieve noncontact handling, low power consumption, and targeted nanosoldering remains a challenge. In this work, we demonstrate a method of targeted photothermal-induced nanosoldering of silver nanowires, which uses Au80Sn20 alloy nanowires as the nanosolder and a 532 nm continuous wave laser as the heat source. The required power for fusing the Au80Sn20 solder is reduced by a factor of 55 compared to the previously demonstrated Ag self-nanosolder case. Construction of a few typical nanostructures (including "X"-, "Y"-, and "-"-shaped junctions) is achieved with this method. Besides its low power consumption, it also provides advantages including noncontact and targeted soldering, thereby introducing new avenues for fabricating complex nanostructures and advanced functional nanodevices.

Identification and experimental validation of ferroptosis-related gene lactotransferrin in age-related hearing loss.

Objective: To reveal the relationship between ARHL and ferroptosis and screen ferroptosis-related genes (FRGs) in ARHL. Methods: Bioinformatics were used to analyze the hub genes and molecular mechanism of ferroptosis in the aging cochleae. Senescence ß-galactosidase staining, iron content detection, and micro malondialdehyde (MDA) assay kits were used to measure ß-galactosidase activity, and expression of Fe2+ and MDA, respectively. Fluorescence microscope was used for immunofluorescence assay of hub genes. Western blot was used to verify the expression of hub genes in HEI-OC1 cells, cochlear explants, and cochleae of C57BL/6J mice. Data were expressed as mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. Results: The analysis of bioinformatics confirmed that lactotransferrin (LTF) is the hub gene and CEBPA-miR-130b-LTF network is the molecular mechanism for cochlear ferroptosis. Compared with the control group, the experiments proved that the indicators of ferroptosis, including Fe2+, MDA, and LTF were differentially expressed in aging HEI-OC1 cells, aging cochlear explants, and aging cochleae. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that ferroptosis plays an important role in ARHL, and LTF is a potential therapeutic target for ARHL via regulating cochlear ferroptosis.

The association between high jugular bulb and mastoid pneumatization in adults.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the degree of high jugular bulb (HJB) and mastoid pneumatization using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Methods: Between April 2019 and June 2022, HRCT of the temporal bone was retrospectively analyzed in 1,025 patients. By excluding the other coexistent pathologies, 113 patients with HJBs were recruited for the study. The degree of the HJBs were defined as follows: Grade I, JB situated between inferior annulus of tympanic membrane and cochlear basal turn (CBT). Grade II, JB situated between CBT and lateral semicircular canal (LSC). Grade III, JB situated above LSC. The volume of mastoid pneumatization was based on HRCT images using a 3D reconstruction. Results: There were 32 male and 81 female subjects (mean age, 41.2 ± 14.0 years; age range, 18-80 years). The male group included 16 Grade I, 28 Grade II and 6 Group III HJB subjects. The female group included 38 Grade I, 62 Grade II and 31 Group III HJB cases. In the different groups of HJB, the mastoid cell volume differences were also not statistically significant (p = 0.165). In the classification, Grade II was most common (90/181, 49.7%). Conclusion: This study found no correlation between mastoid air cell volume and HJB, suggesting that HJB may not affect the mastoid air cell development and disease occurrence. These data must be considered exploratory, requiring more extensive cross-sectional studies.

Identification and validation of N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-related lncRNAs signature for predicting the prognosis of laryngeal carcinoma, especially for smoking patients.

Laryngeal cancer (LC), a highly fatal tumor in the head and neck region, has been the focus of research in recent years. The study of LC has primarily focused on the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in regulating gene expression, as they have emerged as pivotal factors in this biological process. Additionally, a reversible RNA modification called N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been observed to have a significant impact on gene expression as well. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of m6A-related lncRNAs on the prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Specifically, this investigation analyzed the m6A-related regulators' patterns of expression and mutation, encompassing a total of 15 regulators. Drawing upon the expression levels of prognostic m6A-regulated lncRNAs, two distinct lncRNA clusters were identified. Further analysis revealed differentially expressed lncRNAs between these clusters. In addition to studying the expression of lncRNAs, the researchers also examined the distribution of clinical characteristics and the tumor microenvironment (TME) in relation to the identified lncRNA clusters. This provided valuable insights into potential associations between lncRNA expression patterns and the clinical features of LSCC. Through the establishment of a risk model associated with lncRNAs, we were able to further investigate their clinical features, prognosis, and immune status. Additionally, we conducted a separate analysis of LINC00528, a lncRNA associated with smoking, examining its expression, overall survival time, correlated mRNAs, and conducting enrichment of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), as well as determining the sensitivity of related drugs. RT-qPCR results also indicated an increase in LINC00528 expression among smoking LSCC patients. The findings suggest that a high expression level of LINC00528 in LSCC patients may lead to a more favorable prognosis, providing new insights for the management and treatment of LSCC patients, particularly those with high expression of LINC00528. Overall, this research sheds light on the prognostic impact of m6A-regulated lncRNAs in LSCC. The implications of these findings for the advancement of innovative therapeutic approaches for LSCC patients are noteworthy.

Ice-assisted electron-beam lithography for MoS2 transistors with extremely low-energy electrons.

Ice-assisted electron-beam lithography (iEBL) by patterning ice with a focused electron-beam has emerged as a green nanofabrication technique for building nanostructures on diverse substrates. However, materials like atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), can be easily damaged by electron irradiation. To ensure the performance of devices based on sensitive materials, it is critical to control electron-beam induced radiolysis in iEBL processes. In this paper, we demonstrate that electron-beam patterning with extremely low-energy electrons followed by a heating process can significantly reduce the damage to substrate materials. A thin film of water ice not only acts as a sacrificial layer for patterning but also becomes a protecting layer for the underlying materials. As a result, MoS2 field effect transistors with back-gate configuration and ohmic contacts have been successfully fabricated. Moreover, the presence or absence of such a protecting layer can lead to the retention or destruction of the underlying MoS2, which provides a flexible method for creating electrical insulation or connection on 2D materials.

Direct electron-beam patterning of monolayer MoS2 with ice.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are considered strong competitors for next generation semiconductor materials. In this paper, we propose direct electron-beam patterning of monolayer MoS2 inspired by an emerging ice lithography technique. Compared to conventional resist-based nanofabrication, ice-assisted patterning is free of contaminations from polymer resist and allows in situ processing of MoS2. The effects of electron beam dose and energy are investigated and nanoribbons with width below 30 nm are attainable. This method is expected to be applicable also to other TMDCs, providing a promising alternative for nanofabrication of 2D material devices.