Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for the prognosis of breast cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.

INTRODUCTION: Many researchers used machine learning (ML) to predict the prognosis of breast cancer (BC) patients and noticed that the ML model had good individualized prediction performance. OBJECTIVE: The cohort study was intended to establish a reliable data analysis model by comparing the performance of 10 common ML algorithms and the the traditional American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, and used this model in Web application development to provide a good individualized prediction for others. METHODS: This study included 63145 BC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. RESULTS: Through the performance of the 10 ML algorithms and 7th AJCC stage in the optimal test set, we found that in terms of 5-year overall survival, multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) had the highest area under the curve (AUC) value (0.831) and F1-score (0.608), and both sensitivity (0.737) and specificity (0.772) were relatively high. Besides, MARS showed a highest AUC value (0.831, 95%confidence interval: 0.820-0.842) in comparison to the other ML algorithms and 7th AJCC stage (all P < 0.05). MARS, the best performing model, was selected for web application development (https://w12251393.shinyapps.io/app2/). CONCLUSIONS: The comparative study of multiple forecasting models utilizing a large data noted that MARS based model achieved a much better performance compared to other ML algorithms and 7th AJCC stage in individualized estimation of survival of BC patients, which was very likely to be the next step towards precision medicine.

Prognostic importance of numbers of retrieved lymph nodes and positive lymph nodes for ampulla of vater cancer (AVC) in 2347 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

INTRODUCTION: The numbers of retrieved lymph nodes (RLNs) and positive lymph nodes (PLNs) had a significant impact on the survival of patients with ampulla of vater cancer (AVC), but the optimal numbers of the both were controversial. OBJECTIVE: The cohort study aimed to explore the prognostic value and the optimal point of RLNs and PLNs for AVC. METHODS: A total of 2347 AVC patients with M0 disease who underwent surgical resection and lymph node dissection from January 2004 to December 2013 were acquired from a prospective database. RESULTS: The study found that the optimal cut-off values of RLNs were 18 in the N0 cohort and 16 in N1 or entire cohort due to the highest 5-year overall survival (OS) rate and disease-specific survival (DSS) rate and the separation of survival curves (all P < 0.05). In patients with RLNs ≥ 16, patients with PLN = 0 demonstrated significantly better 5-year OS and DSS rates (70.9% and 77.1%) compared to those with PLNs = 1-2 (41.6% and 44.7%; all P < 0.001), and patients with PLNs = 1-2 demonstrated significantly better 5-year OS and DSS rates (41.6% and 44.7%) compared to those with PLNs ≥ 3 (24.3% and 28.0%; all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This article recommended that at least 16 lymph nodes will improve the prognosis of AVC patients undergoing surgery. The best cut-off values of PLNs recommended for this study were 0 and 2, which may accurately stratify patients.

Proposal of the optimal numbers of examined and positive lymph nodes to the 8th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging for 758 patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) recommended retrieval of at least 12 lymph nodes and firstly classified N category by the number of positive lymph nodes (PLNs) for Distal Cholangiocarcinoma (DCC). OBJECTIVE: The end of this cohort study was to explore the optimal cut-off values of the number of examined lymph nodes (ELNs) and PLNs to better stratify patients by utilizing a population-based database. METHODS: A number of 758 patients with DCC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were enrolled in the study and comparing by the survival analysis. RESULTS: Survival analysis found that patients with ELNs < 5 had a lower 3-year disease-specific survival rate than ELNs ≥ 5 in N0M0 cohort (35.3% vs. 53.0%, P = 0.001) and in M0 cohort (42.7% vs. 32.8%, P = 0.006); survival curves between patients with ELNs < 12 and ELNs ≥ 12 were overlapped in N0M0 cohort (P = 0.256) and in M0 cohort (P = 0.233). Among patients with ELNs ≥ 5, using the optimal cut-off value of the number of PLNs (0, 2) could accurately stratify patients, but the recommendation of the number of PLNs (0, 3) by the AJCC could not. CONCLUSIONS: This study recommended examining at least 5 lymph nodes and defining PLNs = 1-2 as the N1 category and PLNs ≥ 3 as the N2 category, which may better stratify distal cholangiocarcinoma patients and improve the accuracy of the eighth edition AJCC staging.

Hydrothermal preparation of 3D flower-like BiPO4/Bi2WO6 microsphere with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity.

A novel 3D flower-like BiPO4/Bi2WO6 photocatalyst was prepared using hydrothermal method. The crystal structure, surface morphologies and optical properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-vis DRS). The photocatalytic activity of the BiPO4/Bi2WO6 composites was evaluated by using rhodamine B (RhB) as a target organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. The composite with the content of 15% BiPO4 exhibited the highest photocatalytic property with the 92% removal rate of RhB within 100 min under visible light irradiation, which ascribed to the fast separation efficiency of photo-induced charge carriers, according with the results of photoluminescence (PL), photocurrent (PC) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Also, it showed superior stability after three times of recycling. Eventually, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of BiPO4/Bi2WO6 composite was proposed according to the energy band structure and the radical-trapping experiment.

Fabrication of CeO2 nanoparticles decorated three-dimensional flower-like BiOI composites to build p-n heterojunction with highly enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance.

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like CeO2/BiOI heterostructures with different Ce/Bi molar ratio were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as surfactant. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results indicate that the CeO2 nanoparticles were successfully loaded on the surface of the flower-like BiOI. The photodegradation experiment demonstrated that the photocatalytic efficiency of CeO2/BiOI samples were higher than that of pure BiOI and CeO2, and CeO2/BiOI heterostructure showed the best photocatalytic performance when the amount of CeO2 located at BiOI up to 15%. The result also exhibits that CeO2/BiOI catalysts possess higher photocatalytic efficiency for Rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene orange (MO) degradation, while it has a slight influence for phenol elimination. Meanwhile, the repeated photocatalytic degradation of RhB experiment reveals excellent photostability. A possible mechanism of photocatalysis was also explored and proposed. Furthermore, loading CeO2 on the surface of BiOI can accelerate the separation rate of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, which is analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, photocurrent experiments (PC) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). These results exhibit that BiOI can be modified by CeO2 and there exists synergistic effect between CeO2 and BiOI. The present work provides a new means to synthesize heterostructured photocatalyst for environmental remediation.

A novel color-tunable phosphor, Na5Gd9F32:Ln3+ (Ln = Eu, Tb, Dy, Sm, Ho) sub-microcrystals: structure, luminescence and energy transfer properties.

Ln3+-Doped fluorides are economical and highly efficient luminescent materials, which play a crucial role in LEDs, biolabeling, and sensors. Therefore, Na5Gd9F32:Ln3+ sub-microspheres with tunable multicolor emissions were successfully synthesized via a simple water bath method employing colloidal Gd(OH)CO3 spheres as precursors. Samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS and PL. It was found that the hydrolysis of BF4- ions had a dynamic effect on the retention of the morphology of the product owing to the mild reaction environment caused by the low hydrolysis rate of BF4- ions. Upon excitation by ultraviolet light, the Na5Gd9F32:Ln3+ (Ln = Eu, Tb, Dy, Sm, Ho) phosphors underwent characteristic f-f transitions and gave rise to red, green, green, yellow, and pale green emissions, respectively. Moreover, various emission colors could be obtained by using different excitation wavelengths and adjusting the Eu3+/Tb3+ molar ratio owing to energy transfer between Tb3+ and Eu3+ ions in the Na5Gd9F32 host. The energy transfer mechanism was demonstrated to be a dipole-dipole interaction. The multicolor luminescent phosphors with a certain dopant concentration based on a single host and excitation wavelength may have potential applications in the field of lighting displays.

Gender-dependent pharmacokinetics of lignans in rats after single and multiple oral administration of Schisandra chinensis extract.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Schisandra chinensis (S. chinensis), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used as sedatives and tonics in clinic. Schisandra lignans are believed to be the major bioactive components in S. chinensis. However, there is a lack of information about the effects of gender and repeated-dose on the pharmacokinetic properties of the schisandra lignans. AIM OF THE STUDY: The study was performed to investigate the influence of gender on the pharmacokinetics of schisandra lignans after administration of S. chinensis extract and to compare their pharmacokinetic behaviors between single and multiple administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of rats (half male and half female) were received a single dose or multiple doses of S. chinensis extract, respectively. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated to determine the plasma concentrations of schisandra lignans. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetic parameters of schisandrin, schisandrol B, deoxyschisandrin, γ-schisandrin and schisantherin A were significantly different by gender difference. The t1/2 of all the tested schisandra lignans in female rats were 2-9 times longer than the corresponding values in male rats. The Cmax and AUC0-t of these schisandra lignans except schisantherin A in female rats were 5-50 times higher than those in male rats. The pharmacokinetic profiles of schisandrin, schisandrol B, deoxyschisandrin and schisantherin A in both gender rats after multiple doses were similar to the corresponding profile after single dose. CONCLUSION: All the tested schisandra lignans showed slower elimination and higher bioavailability in female rats after single or multiple administration of S. chinensis extract compared with male rats. Their pharmacokinetic profiles were not affected by repeated-dose except γ-schisandrin, which was eliminated more slowly in female rats after multiple administration.