Analysis of risk factors for liver metastasis in patients with gastric cancer and construction of prediction model: A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: To retrospectively analyze the risk factors of liver metastases in patients with gastric cancer in a single center, and to establish a Nomogram prediction model to predict the occurrence of liver metastases. METHODS: A total of 96 patients with gastric cancer who were also diagnosed with liver metastasis (GCLM) and treated in our center from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2020 were included. The clinical data of 1095 patients with gastric cancer who were diagnosed without liver metastases (GC) in our hospital from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2017 were retrospectively compared by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. 309 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer in another medical center from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 were introduced as external validation cohorts. RESULTS: Based on the training cohort, multivariate analysis revealed that tumor site (OR = 0.55, P = 0.046), N stage (OR = 4.95, P = 0.004), gender (OR = 0.04, P = 0.001), OPNI (OR = 0.95, P = 0.041), CEA (OR = 1.01, P = 0.018), CA724 (OR = 1.01, P = 0.006), CA242 (OR = 1.01, P = 0.006), WBC (OR = 1.13, P = 0.024), Hb (OR = 0.98, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for liver metastasis in patients with gastric cancer, and Nomogram was established based on this analysis (C-statistics = 0.911, 95%CI 0.880-0.958), and the C-statistics of the external validation cohorts achieved 0.926. ROC analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA) revealed that the nomogram provided superior diagnostic value than single variety. CONCLUSIONS: By innovatively introducing a new tumor location classification method, systemic inflammatory response indicators such as NLR and PLR, and nutritional index OPNI, the risk factors of gastric cancer liver metastasis were determined and a predictive Nomogram model was established, which can provide clinical prediction for patients with gastric cancer liver metastasis.

Effect of Temperature on the Liquid Bridging Force while Maintaining Physical Stability in Solid-Liquid Mixed Fuel.

The temperature factor is an important factor affecting the intercomponent forces while maintaining the physical stability of solid-liquid mixed fuels. Through self-designed experimental equipment, feedback was provided on the fuel stratification and density distribution uniformity with solid-liquid volume ratios of 1.25:1 and 1:1 under different temperature conditions. As the viscosity of the liquid increased with decreasing temperature, the ability of the fuel to overcome particle deposition was enhanced. Although none of the three fuel ratios with a solid-liquid volume ratio of 1.25:1 showed stratification, the differences in the liquid bridging forces of the components resulted in an increasingly uneven distribution of density with increasing surface tension of the liquid components. By analyzing the imaging results and measuring the liquid bridge force, it was found that the fuel with a nitromethane mass ratio of 40% had the lowest temperature effect on the solid-liquid contact area and the most uniform density distribution. Properly reducing the surface tension of liquid components could effectively resist the influence of the temperature on the liquid bridge force while maintaining the physical stability of the fuel.

Infiltrating characteristics and prognostic value of tertiary lymphoid structures in resected gastric neuroendocrine neoplasm patients.

Objectives: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are lymphocyte aggregates that play an anti-tumor role in most solid tumors. However, the functions of TLS in gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (GNENs) remain unknown. This study aimed to determine the characteristics and prognostic values of TLS in resected GNEN patients. Methods: Haematoxylin-eosin, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and multiple fluorescent IHC staining were used to assess TLS to investigate the correlation between TLSs and clinicopathological characteristics and its prognostic value. Results: Tertiary lymphoid structures were identified in 84.3% of patients with GNEN. They were located in the stromal area or outside the tumor tissue and mainly composed of B and T cells. A high density of TLSs promoted an anti-tumor immune response in GNEN. CD15+ TANs and FOXP3+ Tregs in TLSs inhibited the formation of TLSs. High TLS density was significantly associated with prolonged recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of GNENs. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that TLS density, tumor size, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and World Health Organisation (WHO) classification were independent prognostic factors for OS, whereas TLS density, tumor size and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors for RFS. Finally, OS and RFS nomograms were developed and validated, which were superior to the WHO classification and the TNM stage. Conclusion: Tertiary lymphoid structures were mainly located in the stromal area or outside the tumor area, and high TLS density was significantly associated with the good prognosis of patients with GNEN. Incorporating TLS density into a nomogram may improve survival prediction in patients with resected GNEN.

Dispersal Characteristics Dependence on Mass Ratio for Explosively Driven Dry Powder Particle.

An investigation on the dispersal characteristics of the cylindrically packed material of dry powder particles driven by explosive load is presented. By establishing a controllable experimental system under laboratory conditions and combining with near-field simulation, the particle dispersal process is described. Additionally, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is observed during the process of jet deceleration dispersal. The characteristic parameters of radially propagated particles are explored under different mass ratio of particle-to-charge (M/C). Results indicate that, when the charge mass remains constant, an increase in M/C leads to a decrease in dispersed jet number, void radius and maximum velocity, wherein the maximum velocity correlates with calculations by the porous Gurney model. The case of the smaller M/C always has a higher outer-boundary radius and area expansion factor. Findings indicate that when particles detach from the jet upon reaching minimum acceleration and entering low-speed far-field stage from high-speed near-field stage, the outer-boundary radius is 30~36 times the initial particles' body radius under different M/C. In addition, particle concentration distribution over time and distance is qualitatively analyzed by the grayscale image method. This research can be referential for improving the fire-extinguishing capacity of extinguishing bombs and the damage property of fuel air explosive (FAE).

N-doped carbon dots coupled with molecularly imprinted polymers as a fluorescent sensor for ultrasensitive detection of genistein in soya products.

Rapid detection of genistein in soya products has remained difficult. Current methods necessitate sample handling and use of costly instruments. Here, using a simple one-pot reverse microemulsion method, a sensor based on N-doped carbon dots conjugated molecularly imprinted polymers (N-CDs@MIPs) was synthesized to analyze genistein. N-doped carbon dots were used as fluorescent component, genistein as the template molecule, and molecularly imprinted polymers as the selective sorbent in this fluorescence sensor. The sensor was then examined and optical studies demonstrated that N-CDs@MIPs not only had strong fluorescence emission and outstanding optical stability, but also had good sensitivity (detection limit 35.7 nM) and selectivity to genistein. Furthermore, the N-CDs@MIPs materials were used to analyze genistein in soya products, and the findings (which ranged from 99.77% to 106.11%) show that the N-CDs@MIPs has high potential for quickly detecting the amount of genistein in complicated food samples.

Explosion Performance of Al Powder-Liquid Fuel Mixtures under Different Ambient Conditions.

The explosion performance of Al powder-diethyl ether (A-D) and Al powder-diethyl ether-nitromethane (A-D-N) mixtures under low-temperature and low-pressure as well as high-temperature and high-humidity conditions were investigated in a 20 L explosion vessel. The explosion pressure, maximum pressure rise rates, and lower flammability limit (LFL) of the mixtures under binary ambient conditions were obtained. The results showed that the A-D-N mixture had a higher explosion pressure and LFL under the same ambient condition due to the addition of nitromethane. The explosion pressure and LFL of the A-D-N mixture had lower sensitivity to the variation of ambient parameters. The result could further help in explosion performance assessment of multi-phase fuel under actual ambient conditions.

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying postoperative paralytic ileus by various immune cell types.

Postoperative ileus (POI) is a well-known complication following gut manipulation or surgical trauma, leading to an impaired gut motility and prolonged postoperative recovery time. Few current therapeutic strategies can prevent POI, and this disorder remains to be a major clinical challenge for patients undergoing surgery. Comprehensive understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of POI stimulates the discovery of more promising targets for treatment. POI is closely associated with a series of inflammatory events within the bowel wall, and as key components of inflammatory mechanisms, different types of immune cells, including macrophages, dendritic cells, and T lymphocytes, play significant roles during the development of POI. A variety of immune cells are recruited into the manipulation sites after surgery, contributing to early inflammatory events or impaired gut motility. Our review intends to summarize the specific relationship between different immune cells and POI, mainly focusing on the relevant mechanisms underlying this disorder.

Curcumin induces mitochondrial apoptosis in human hepatoma cells through BCLAF1-mediated modulation of PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß signaling.

Curcumin is a yellow pigment extracted from the rhizome of turmeric, a traditional Chinese medicine. Here, we tested the hypothesis that curcumin-mediated downregulation of BCLAF1 triggers mitochondrial apoptosis in hepatoma cells by inhibiting PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß signaling. Treatment of the human hepatoma cell lines, HepG2 and SK-Hep-1, with various concentrations of curcumin revealed a time-dependent and concentration-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation, increased apoptosis, cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, and reduced expression levels of PI3K, p-PI3K, AKT, p-AKT, GSK-3ß, and p-GSK-3ß. Additionally, curcumin suppressed the levels of apoptotic factors after treating the cells with LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor. Curcumin also suppressed the expression of BCLAF1. Treating stable BCLAF1 knockout HepG2 and SK-Hep-1 cells with curcumin further enhanced apoptosis and increased the number of cells in G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, while inhibiting the downregulation of PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß pathway-related proteins. Treatment of a nude mouse xenograft model bearing HepG2 cells with curcumin inhibited tumor growth, disrupted the cellular structure of the tumor tissue, and suppressed the expression of BCLAF1 and PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß proteins. In summary, our in vitro and in vivo analyses show that curcumin downregulates BCLAF1 expression, inhibits the activation of the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3ß pathway, and triggers mitochondrial apoptosis in HCC. These findings uncover a potential therapeutic strategy leveraging the antitumor effects of curcumin against HCC.

Investigation on the Explosion Characteristics of an Aluminum Dust-Diethyl Ether-Air Mixture.

In this work, the explosion characteristics of an aluminum (Al)-diethyl ether (DEE)-air mixture were investigated in a 20 L spherical vessel. The effect factors of the explosion characteristics considered were fuel concentration, component proportion, and ignition energy. With the increasing concentration of the mixed fuel (Al/DEE = 1:1), the maximum pressure (P max), the maximum rate of pressure rise ((dP/dt)max), and the flame propagation speed (νF) exhibit an inversely "U-shaped" curve. The maximum P max, (dP/dt)max, and νF values are 901.2 kPa, 148.3 MPa/s, and 15.3 m/s, respectively, corresponding to an optimum concentration of 600 g/m3. The P max, the (dP/dt)max, and the νF increase with the addition of DEE when the proportion of DEE is below 55% but have a decrease tendency when the proportion of DEE is over 55%. As the explosions of Al and DEE were mutually promoting, the studied explosion characteristics of the Al-DEE-air mixture are obviously higher than those of pure Al or DEE in air. The minimum ignition energy (MIE) of the Al-DEE-air mixture is 1.9 mJ, between the MIE of Al and DEE. With the increase of ignition energy, P max, (dP/dt)max, and νF all increase, while the minimum explosion concentration presents a linear decreasing trend. This work could provide significant scientific evidence for evaluating the explosion risk of the Al-DEE-air mixture.

Study on thermal expansion characteristics of mixed systems of flaky dust and alkane liquid.

To obtain the cubical coefficients of thermal expansion of a mixed system of flaky dust and alkane liquid, the volume and pressure of the mixed system under different temperatures and volume fractions of aluminum powder were measured. On the basis of the experimental results, the cubical coefficients of thermal expansion under the corresponding conditions were calculated and the effect of each influencing factor was obtained. The results show that since the volume of each phase component in the system increases with temperature, the volume of the mixed system also increases with temperature. With increasing temperature, the cubical coefficients of thermal expansion of the mixed system generally increase. Affected by the increase in mass concentration of low-expansion-coefficient substances, an increase in the volume fraction of aluminum powder results in a decrease in the volume thermal expansion coefficient of the mixed system. At the same time, due to the changes in the state of the mixed system, the mass fraction of aluminum powder decreased sharply within a certain range. The low mass fraction of aluminum powder weakens the supporting effect of the metal particle skeleton, the thermal expansion properties of the liquid dominate the mixed system, and the volume thermal expansion coefficient is high. The high aluminum powder mass fraction creates the metal particle skeleton, the metal thermal expansion properties dominate the mixed system, and the volume thermal expansion coefficient is low.

Morphodynamics of a dense particulate medium under radial explosion.

In this paper, we investigate the initiation and growth of instability patterns arising from the shock loaded internal surfaces of granular rings confined in a Hele-Shaw cell using both experimental and numerical approaches. A variety of patterns are formed in granular media consisting of grains with varying morphologies. When the particle shape becomes increasingly irregular, and/or the gap in the Hele-Shaw cell becomes narrower, it is increasingly hard for confined particles to fluidize. Consequently the emergent pattern transitions from a smooth circle with trivial undulation which grows in a self-similar manner to an unstable finger-like structure with significant tip-splitting. The distinct growth mode of the well-defined instability pattern is closely associated with its inception phase alongside the transmission of the compaction front. The runaway growth of the incipient perturbations gives rise to the unstable growth of the late-time finger-like instabilities. Conversely the minimal growth of the perturbations in the inception phase guarantees the ensuing self-similar growth of the instability patterns featuring insignificant corrugation. The grain-scale simulations reveal the fundamental role played by the heterogeneous non-linear force network inherent to granular media in the stable-to-unstable transition of the instability pattern. The present work reveals the correlation between the grain-scale physics underpinning the formation of surface instability upon shock loading granular media and the nature of the resulting macro-scale instability patterns. The macroscopic flowability of particles through the confined space is found to be the foremost indicator of the nature of the shock induced granular instability pattern.

Target delivery selective CSF-1R inhibitor to tumor-associated macrophages via erythrocyte-cancer cell hybrid membrane camouflaged pH-responsive copolymer micelle for cancer immunotherapy.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) is a promising therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy, while TAMs targeting therapy using nano-sized drug delivery system (NDDS) is a great challenge. To overcome these drawbacks, a novel erythrocyte-cancer cell hybrid membrane camouflaged pH-responsive copolymer micelle (dextran-grafted-poly (histidine) copolymer) was prepared to target deliver a selective CSF-1R inhibitor: BLZ-945 (shorten as DH@ECm) to TAMs for TAMs depletion. The prepared DH@ECm possessed favorable particle size (~190 nm) preferable immune camouflage and tumor homologies targeting characteristic when it was intravenously administrated into blood system. In tumor acidic microenvironment, DH@ECm possessed pH-responsive characteristic and unique "membrane escape effect" to facilitate recognition and internalization by TAMs via dextran-CD206 receptor specific interaction (about 3.9 fold than free drug), followed by TAMs depletion in vitro. For in vivo studies, DH@ECm could reverse tumor immune-microenvironment with the elevation of CD8+ T cells and possess sufficient tumor immunotherapy (inhibition rate: 64.5%). All the in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated the therapeutical potential of DH@ECm for tumor immunotherapy.

Dual hierarchical particle jetting of a particle ring undergoing radial explosion.

We study experimentally the formation of a dual hierarchical jetting pattern in dry dense particle media subjected to the radially divergent shock loadings in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. The distinct internal and external jetting patterns were formed on the internal and external surfaces of a ring at different times, respectively. The former features dozens of radially aligned fine filaments. By contrast, the latter consists of a large number of small spikes. Once the internal jets are fully developed, a novel proportionate growth is observed, in which distinguishable structures of the overall pattern all grow at the same rate until the interaction between the internal and external jets becomes significant, leading to the inversion of the internal jetting pattern. Although the external jetting is found to be an instability of a Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) type, the internal jetting exhibits a much delayed onset and slower early-stage growth compared with the RT instability, indicating different underlying physics.

Dual fragmentation modes of the explosively dispersed granular materials.

Granular materials subjected to blast loading caused by a central explosion exhibit a distinctive dual jetting phenomenon. A large number of fine particle jets are ejected from the outer edge of the charge upon the reflection of the shock wave from the free surface, and are soon overtaken and overlapped by a second set of much thicker particle jets from the inner edge. Our numerical studies suggest that these two distinct sets of particle jets arise from a subsequent fragmentation of the outer and inner particle layers formed during shock interaction. The instability onset of the inner particle layer, which remains intact after the spallation of the outer particle layer, corresponds to the destabilizing viscous forces prevailing over the stabilizing inertial forces. The physical mechanism responsible for the spallation of the outer particle layer is accounted for by a three-phase cavitation model consisting of nucleation, unconditioned and conditioned growth of voids. The theoretically predicted fragmentation onset and fragment size are well consistent with the experimental results. Moreover, by incorporating the moisture effect into the granular material model, results of the cavitation model indicate an increased number of jets generated by saturated particles, as observed in experiments. With minor shock energy being consumed on the saturated particle compaction thanks to the remarkably low compressibility of saturated particles, the shock wave retains the steep front during propagation and subsequently produces a sharp reflection wave leading to a considerably higher strain relaxation rate in saturated particles than that in dry particles. The pressure relaxation duration prescribes the time the activated nucleation sites are allowed to communicate with each other. Consequently nucleation sites in saturated particles have more chances to survive and fully develop than those in dry particles giving rise to smaller fragments.

Distribution of the crustal magnetic field in Sichuan-Yunnan region, southwest China.

Based on the new and higher degree geomagnetic model NGDC-720-V3, we have investigated the spatial distribution, the altitude decay characteristics of the crustal magnetic anomaly, the contributions from different wavelength bands to the anomaly, and the relationship among the anomaly, the geological structure, and the geophysical field in Sichuan-Yunnan region of China. It is noted that the most outstanding feature in this area is the strong positive magnetic anomaly in Sichuan Basin, a geologically stable block. Contrasting with this feature, a strong negative anomaly can be seen nearby in Longmen Mountain block, an active block. This contradiction implies a possible relationship between the magnetic field and the geological activity. Completely different feature in magnetic field distribution is seen in the central Yunnan block, another active region, where positive and negative anomalies distribute alternatively, showing a complex magnetic anomaly map. Some fault belts, such as the Longmen Mountain fault, Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault, and the Red River fault, are the transitional zones of strong and weak or negative and positive anomalies. The corresponding relationship between the magnetic anomaly and the geophysical fields was confirmed.

Explosively driven fragmentation of granular materials.

This paper investigates the explosively driven dynamics of dry and wet sand. Contrary to popular belief, wet sand under high strain rate loadings (10(4)s(-1)) is observed to have reduced resistance against flow compared to the dry sand, which is supported by a noticeably enhanced expansion before the breakup followed by an increased number of fragments. Even a small amount of interstitial oil (3.2 wt.%) suffices to substantially reduce the size of fragments whose average mass only amounts to 60% of the mass of the dry sand fragments. To predict the instability onset of the expanding sand shell, a kinetic instability model is proposed based on an instability criterion involving the opposing forces of stabilizing inertial pressures and destabilizing viscous resistance. The interstitial oil leads to a smaller viscous resistance of wet sand by the lubrication effect as well as lessening the degree of shock compaction. The dominance of viscous resistance thus commences later for the wet sand shell until a smaller thickness allows the inertial forces to be overtaken. Moreover, multi-shear localizations rather than interface instability are identified as the dominant mechanism for the instability onset of the expanding sand shells.

The origin of granular convection in vertically vibrated particle beds: The differential shear flow field.

This paper investigates the particle scale dynamics of granular convection in vertically vibrated granular beds. The onset of the convection is found to coincide with the noticeable particle transverse migrations from the side walls towards the centre of the bed, which only take place in the wake of the gravity wave front dividing the upward moving particles and the falling ones. The mechanism driving the particle inward flows and thus sustaining the complete convection rolls can be understood in light of a convection model based on void penetration. This stochastic convection model reveals that the underlying driving force is a distinctive differential shear flow field arising from the combined effect of frictional holdback by the walls and the downward pull of gravity. The changes of the convection pattern with inceasing acceleration amplitude, in terms of the convection strength and the thickness of the bottom of the convection rolls, can be accounted for by this model.

Spherical shock-wave propagation in three-dimensional granular packings.

We investigate numerically the spherical shock-wave propagation in an open dense granular packing perturbed by the sudden expansion of a spherical intruder in the interior of the pack, focusing on the correlation between geometrical fabrics and propagating properties. The measurements of the temporal and spatial variations in a variety of propagating properties define a consistent serrated wave substructure with characteristic length on the orders of particle diameters. Further inspection of particle packing reveals a well-defined particle layering that persists several particle diameters away from the intruder, although its dominant effects are only within one to two diameters. This interface-induced layering not only exactly coincides with the serrated wave profile, but also highlights the competition between two energy transmission mechanisms involving distinct transport speeds. The alternating dominances between these two mechanisms contribute to the nonlinear wave propagation on the particle scale. Moreover, the proliferation of intricate three-dimensional contact force networks suggests the anisotropic stress transmission, which is found to also arise from the localized packing structure in the vicinity of the intruder.