Pleural carbohydrate antigen 50 and malignant pleural effusion: a prospective, double-blind diagnostic accuracy test.

Background: Serum carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) is an auxiliary diagnostic marker for various solid tumors, but it remains unclear whether CA50 in pleural fluid can assist in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE). This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid CA50 for MPE in pleural effusion patients with undetermined causes. Methods: This study prospectively recruited pleural effusion patients with undetermined causes who visited the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University between September 2018 and July 2021. We measured pleural fluid CA50 level with an electrochemiluminescence assay. We analyzed the diagnostic accuracy of CA50 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for MPE with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The net benefits of CA50 and CEA were analyzed using the decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: We enrolled 66 MPEs and 87 benign pleural effusions (BPEs). MPE patients had significantly higher CA50 and CEA than BPE patients. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of CA50 was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.63-0.80). CA50 had a sensitivity of 0.30 (95% CI: 0.19-0.41) and a specificity of 1.00 (95% CI: 1.00-1.00) at the threshold of 15 IU/mL. The decision curve of CA50 was above the reference line at the calculated risk probability of between 0.30 and 1.00. Venn diagram indicated that some patients with low CEA (<50 or <150 ng/mL) and/or negative cytology can be identified by positive CA50 (>15 IU/mL). Conclusions: Pleural fluid CA50 has moderate accuracy and net benefit for detecting MPE. CA50 >15 IU/mL can be used to diagnose MPE. The combination of CA50 and CEA improves the diagnostic sensitivity for MPE.

Hierarchical porous carbons from carboxylated coal-tar pitch functional poly(acrylic acid) hydrogel networks for supercapacitor electrodes.

A gel carbonization strategy for the synthesis of hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) from carboxylated coal-tar pitches (CCP) functional poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) hydrogel networks for advanced supercapacitor electrodes was reported. The amphiphilic CCP and PAA polymer could be easily self-assembled to gel by the major driving force of hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking. The HPCs containing interconnected macro-/meso-/micropores were fabricated by direct carbonization of the dried hydrogels. The resultant HPCs with a high specific surface area and total pore volume of 1294.6 m2 g-1 and 1.34 cm3 g-1 respectively, as a supercapacitor electrode exhibit a high specific capacitance of 292 F g-1 at 1.0 A g-1 in two-electrode system. The electrode also exhibits ultra-long cycle life with a capacitance retention as high as 94.2% after 10 000 cycles, indicating the good electrochemical stability. Furthermore, the concept of such hierarchical architecture and synthesis strategy would expand to other materials for advanced energy storage systems, such as Na-ion batteries and metal oxides for supercapacitors.

Hierarchical porous carbon derived from carboxylated coal-tar pitch for electrical double-layer capacitors.

Hierarchical porous carbons have been synthesized using amphiphilic carboxylated coal-tar pitch as a precursor via a simple KOH activation process. Amphiphilic carboxylated coal-tar pitch has a high content of hydrophilic carboxyl groups that enable it to be easily wetted in KOH solution and that facilitate the activation process. In the present study, the effect of the activation agent to precursor ratio on the porosity and the specific surface area was studied by nitrogen adsorption-desorption. A maximum specific surface area of 2669.1 m2 g-1 was achieved with a KOH to carboxylated pitch ratio of three and this produced a structure with micropores/mesopores. Among the various hierarchical porous carbons, the sample prepared with an activation agent to precursor ratio of two exhibited the best electrochemical performance as an electrode for an electrical double-layer capacitor in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. The specific capacitance of the sample was 286 F g-1 at a current density of 2 A g-1 and it had a capacitance-retention ratio of 93.9%, even after 10 000 cycles. Thus, hierarchical porous carbons derived from amphiphilic-carboxylated coal-tar pitch represent a promising electrode material for electrical double-layer capacitors.

Dicarbonyl-tuned microstructures of hierarchical porous carbons derived from coal-tar pitch for supercapacitor electrodes.

A simple and effective template-free method to prepare hierarchical porous carbons (HPCs) has been developed by using low-cost coal-tar pitch as a starting material, anhydrous aluminum chloride as the Friedel-Crafts catalyst, and oxalyl chloride as the cross-linking agent. By a simple controllable Friedel-Crafts reaction, diketone-functionalized coal-tar pitch as the hierarchical porous coal-tar pitch precursor was obtained via a one-step carbonization to provide a well-developed micro-mesoporous network. Nitrogen adsorption and desorption measurements showed that the surface area, pore volume, pore size and pore size distributions of the resulting carbon materials was dependent on the usage of the cross-linking agent. The as-fabricated HPCs have a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area of 1394.6 m2 g-1 and exhibit an excellent electrochemical performance with the highest specific capacitance of 317 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1 in a three-electrode system. A symmetric supercapacitor was fabricated from HPC-DK-1.0 in a two-electrode system, which exhibits a high specific capacitance of 276 F g-1 at a current density of 0.25 A g-1, a high rate capability and an excellent cycling stability with a capacitance retention of 92.9% after 10 000 cycles. The one-step carbonization method that produced HPCs for electrical double-layer capacitors represents a new approach for high-performance energy storage.