Constructing multi-layer heterogeneous interfaces in liquid metal graphite hybrid powder: Towards microwave absorption enhancement.

Carbon based materials are widely used in the preparation of microwave absorption materials due to their low density, high attenuation loss and large specific surface area. However, their high conductivity usually leads to high reflection loss. In this study, multi-layer heterogeneous interfaces were constructed in liquid metal graphite hybrid powder to reduce reflection loss and enhance microwave absorption performance. Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) layer was formed in Ga coated graphite powder to improve impedance matching and attenuation constant via an annealing treatment. Specifically, the hybrid particles with 50 wt% Ga and being annealed at 120 °C for 2 h have a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of -42.68 dB and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.11 GHz at a thickness of 3.3 mm. The hybrid particles not only have multi-layer structures with different electrical conductivity, but also form heterojunctions between different interfaces, which can further enhance dipole and interfacial polarization.

Ultrafast microwave synthesis of MoSSe@ graphene composites via dual anion design for long-cyclable Li-S batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) have been increasingly recognized as a promising candidate for the next-generation energy-storage systems. This is primarily because LSBs demonstrate an unparalleled theoretical capacity and energy density far exceeding conventional lithium-ion batteries. However, the sluggish redox kinetics and formidable dissolution of polysulfides lead to poor sulfur utilization, serious polarization issues, and cyclic instability. Herein, sulfiphilic few-layer MoSSe nanoflake decorated on graphene (MoSSe@graphene), a two-dimensional and catalytically active hetero-structure composite, was prepared through a facile microwave method, which was used as a conceptually new sulfur host and served as an interfacial kinetic accelerator for LSBs. Specifically, this sulfiphilic MoSSe nanoflake not only strongly interacts with soluble polysulfides but also dynamically promotes polysulfide redox reactions. In addition, the 2D graphene nanosheets can provide an extra physical barrier to mitigate the diffusion of lithium polysulfides and enable much more uniform sulfur distribution, thus dramatically inhibiting polysulfides shuttling meanwhile accelerating sulfur conversion reactions. As a result, the cells with MoSSe@graphene nanohybrid achieved a superior rate performance (1091 mAh/g at 1C) and an ultralow decaying rate of 0.040 % per cycle after 1000 cycles at 1C.

Low loading of Pt on MoB Constructed by microwave Quasi-solid approach with solvent Regulation for hydrogen evolution reaction.

The interaction between metal nanoclusters and the carrier can enhance the electron transfer rate to optimize the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance, but the common synthesis approaches often lead to metal particle agglomeration, and then blocking active sites. Herein, highly-dispersed Pt nanoclusters supported onto molybdenum boride (MoB) is developed through microwave approach with various solvent to regulate the catalytic performance. The synthesized electrocatalyst with the addition of methanol (Pt/MoB-M) exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance towards HER with low overpotential (13 mV at 10 mA cm-2), small Tafel slope (24 mV dec-1), and high mass activity (10.06 A/mgPt at 50 mV). This work presents a novel approach to prepare highly-efficient electrocatalysts for renewable energy-related applications of non-carbon supported low loading of precious metals.

Multifunctional bacterial cellulose­derived carbon hybrid aerogel for ultrabroad microwave absorption and thermal insulation.

Carbon aerogel has gained intense attention as one of the most promising microwave absorption materials. It can overcome severe electromagnetic pollution, thanks to its 3D macroscopic structure and superb conductive loss capacity. However, there is still a big challenge to endow multifunctionality to carbon aerogel while maintaining its good electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) so as to adapt wide practical application. Herein, a novel carbon-based aerogel consisting of Cu and TiO2 nanoparticles dispersed on carbon nanofiber framework was derived from carbonized bacterial cellulose (CBC) decorated with its mother bacteria via freeze-drying, in situ growth and carbonization strategies. The synthesized carbon-based CBC/Cu/TiO2 aerogel achieved an excellent EWA performance with a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.32 GHz. It is attributed to the synergistic loss mechanism from multiple scattering, conductive network loss, interfacial polarization loss and dipolar polarization relaxation. Meanwhile, the obtained aerogel also shows an excellent thermal insulation with a 3-mm-thick sample generating a temperature gradient of over 42 °C at 85 °C and a maximum radar cross-section (RCS) reduction of 23.88 dB m2 owing to the cellular structure and synergistic effects of multi-components. Therefore, this study proposes a feasible design approach for creating lightweight, effective, and multifunctional CBC-based EWA materials, which offer a new platform to develop ultrabroad electromagnetic wave absorber under the guidance of RCS simulation.

Development and management of iatrogenic biloma post microwave ablation of solitary metastatic breast cancer lesion in the liver.

Thermal ablation is used to treat liver metastasis including those from breast cancer. The ablation is associated with pain, hemorrhage, and biliary structure damage leading to bilomas. Biloma is a collection of bile that can occur inside or outside the biliary system, which could happen as a rare complication of surgery (from procedures like abdominal surgery or diagnostic procedures), trauma, or spontaneously. We report a case of biloma development after microwave ablation (MWA) of a metastatic lesion in the liver. We present a 66-year-old female diagnosed with stage 4 intraductal carcinoma of the right breast with metastasis to the liver. She developed biloma and infarction of the left lobe of the liver following MWA, which was treated with percutaneous internal/external biliary drain placement. Her symptoms and liver function tests were completely resolved after 3 months, and her left hepatic lobe completely atrophied in the same period. Biloma is a rare but concerning complication of MWA, therefore high suspicion should be maintained in patients presenting with cholestatic symptoms and fever postprocedure. When identified, drainage with antibiotic therapy can effectively treat biloma and resolve the symptoms.

Carbon nanofiber coated ionic crystal architecture withconfinement effect for high-performance microwave absorption along with high-efficiency water harvesting from air.

Water is considered an effective microwave absorber due to its high transmittance and frequency-dispersive dielectric constant, yet it is challenging to form it into a stable state as an absorber. Herein, we developed a water-containing microwave absorber using chemical vapor deposition (CVD), namely, the bifunctional carbon/NaCl multi-interfaces hybrid with excellent water harvesting and microwave absorption performance. Carbon/NaCl exhibits remarkable water harvesting abilities from air, exceeding 210 % of its weight in 12 h. The development of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic heterojunction interface is responsible for this outstanding performance. Additionally, the interfacial polarization provided by carbon/NaCl, along with the dipole polarization induced by the internally captured water and defects, enhances its microwave absorption. The carbon/NaCl hybrid achieved a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -69.62 dB at 17.1 GHz with a thickness of 2.13 mm, and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EABmax) of 6.74 GHz at a thickness of 2.5 mm. Compared with raw NaCl (RLmin of -24.5 dB, EABmax of 3.88 GHz), the RLmin and EABmax values of the absorber increased by approximately 2.85 and 1.74 times. These results highlight the potential for bifunctional carbon/NaCl hybrid in applications within extreme environments, presenting a promising avenue for further research and development.

FT-FEDTL: A fine-tuned feature-extracted deep transfer learning model for multi-class microwave-based brain tumor classification.

The microwave brain imaging (MBI) system is an emerging technology used to detect brain tumors in their early stages. Multi-class microwave-based brain tumor (MBT) identification and classification are crucial due to the tumor's patterns and shape. Manual identification and categorization of the tumors from the images by physicians is a challenging task and consumes more time. Recently, to overcome these issues, the deep transfer learning (DTL) technique has been used to classify brain tumors efficiently. This paper proposes a Fine-tuned Feature Extracted Deep Transfer Learning Model called FT-FEDTL for multi-class MBT classification purposes. The main objective of this work is to suggest a better pathway for brain tumor diagnosis by designing an efficient DTL model that automatically identifies and categorizes the MBT images. The InceptionV3 architecture is utilized as a base for feature extraction in the proposed FT-FEDTL model. Thereafter, a fine-tuning method is applied to the additional five layers with hyperparameters. The fine-tuned layers are attached to the base model to enhance classification performance. The MBT data are collected from two sources and balanced by augmentation techniques to create a total of 4200 balanced datasets. Later, 80 % images are used for training, 20 % images are utilized for validation, and 80 samples of each class are used for testing the FT-FEDTL model for classifying tumors into six classes. We evaluated and compared the FT-FEDTL model with the three traditional non-CNN and seven pretrained models by applying an imbalanced and balanced dataset. The proposed model showed superior classification performance compared to other models for the balanced dataset. It attained an overall accuracy, recall, precision, specificity, and Fscore of 99.65 %, 99.16 %, 99.48 %, 99.10 %, and 99.23 %, respectively. The experimental outcomes ensure that the proposed model can be employed in biomedical applications to assist radiologists for multi-class MBT image classification purposes. The Anaconda distribution platform with Python 3.7 on the Windows 11 OS is used to implement the models.

Anti-CTLA-4 antibody self-presented dendritic cell nanovesicles boost the immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma after microwave ablation.

Microwave ablation (MWA) is a frequently adopted regional therapy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in clinic. However, incomplete microwave ablation (IMWA) is often inevitable due to the restraint of ablating large tumors or tumors in special locations, resulting in a high recurrence rate of HCC. Moreover, the most promising immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-based immunotherapy is raising hindered by the toxicity and insufficient immune response. To overcome these barriers, we conjugate small nanovesicle (smDV)-derived from matured dendritic cells (mDCs) with anti-CTLA-4 antibody (smDV-aCTLA-4) using a metabolic tagging technology, which could trigger the infiltration of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) and adopted tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in residual HCC after IMWA. In HCC microenvironment, the administration of smDV-aCTLA-4 could promote antigen presentation and immune checkpoint suppression to activate CTLs and improve the safety of anti-CTLA-4 antibody. Moreover, the anti-tumor efficacy of CTLs elicited by smDV-aCTLA-4 could also be further enhanced by anti-programmed death 1 (aPD-1) antibody. In addition, compared to the adoptive TILs therapy, the treatment using smDV-aCTLA-4-bonded TILs (smDV-aCTLA-4@TILs) could promote the proliferation and infiltration of cytotoxic TILs in residual HCC after IMWA. Our results clearly evidences the potency of a new type of engineered DC nanovesicles in reducing HCC recurrence after IMWA.

Rapid synthesis of cobalt manganese phosphate by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and application as positrode material in supercapatteries.

Electrochemical energy storage devices with high specific capacity are of utmost important for the next-generation electronic devices. Supercapatteries (SCs) are highly demanded energy storage devices nowadays as these bridge the low energy supercapacitors and low power batteries. Herein, we report a rapid synthesis of cobalt manganese phosphate (COMAP) by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and facile fabrication of SCs using electrodes comprising of COMAP as positrode material. The effect of precursor concentration on the microstructure and surface morphology of the COMAP samples are examined initially. Further, the electrochemical performance of COMAP electrodes is studied systematically in 3 M KOH (aqueous) electrolyte. COMAP exhibits excellent charge storage capabilities where type of charge storage mechanism is found to be battery-type based on the calculation obtained from Dunn's method. The SC electrode fabricated with COMAP synthesized using cobalt: manganese precursor ratio as 80:20 exhibits a highest specific capacity of 191.4 C/g at a scan rate of 1 mV/s. An asymmetric SC (ASC) cell fabricated with COMAP as positrode and activated carbon (AC) as negatrode exhibits a specific capacity of 165.5 C/g at a current density of 1.8 A/g. The COMAP//AC ASC cell exhibits an energy density of 34.1 Wh/kg at a corresponding power density of 1875 W/kg at a current density of 1.8 A/g.

Influence of varied processing methods on the antioxidant capacity, antibacterial activity, and bioavailability of Iranian black, oolong, and green leafy teas.

In this study, the impact of various tea preparation techniques on the content of bioactive compounds, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial properties, and polyphenol bioavailability in green, black, and oolong tea infusions was examined. The findings demonstrated that the fermentation process significantly influences the levels of bioactive compounds, with green tea infusions exhibiting the highest, and black tea the lowest, content of phenolic compounds. A positive correlation was observed between the content of the phenolic compound and both antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Additionally, the microwave brewing method was identified as the most effective preparation technique for maximizing the bioactive compound content and bioavailability. The inclusion of skim milk powder was found to further enhance the bioavailability of phenolic compounds during digestive process. The research suggests that green tea infusions prepared using the microwave brewing method and supplemented with the skim milk powder, could serve as a functional beverage offering enhanced health benefits.

Highly cost-effective wheat starch-stearic acid complexes enabled by microwave processing: Structural properties, anti-digestion, and molecular dynamics simulation.

Microwave (MW) heating shows higher efficiency in preparing wheat starch-stearic acid (WS-SA) complexes than the traditional water bath (WB) heating method, while the detailed "time-energy-quality" evaluations and the potential anti-digestion mechanism of the MW-processed WS-SA remain further exploration. In this study, 95 % time cost and 73 % energy consumption were saved when using MW processing WS-SA, and the MW-processed complexes were verified to show significantly higher relative crystallinity, short-range ordered structure degree, thermal stability, complex index, and resistant starch content. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation demonstrated that MW treatment notably facilitated the binding rate of amylose and SA molecules, generating a tight and stable helical structure through hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. Analyses of solvent-accessible surface area and water status cross-verified that the denser structure could endow the MW-processed complexes with higher resistance to water solvation effects and correspondingly reduce the water mobility for enzymatic hydrolysis reactions, ultimately making the MW-processed complexes more undigestible. This study provides a further understanding of the anti-digestion mechanisms of the MW-processed WS-SA from the molecular level, and it is expected that the current work could attract more concerns to the highly cost-effective MW heating method for processing starchy food.

Influence of Annealing Temperature on the OER Activity of NiO(111) Nanosheets Prepared via Microwave and Solvothermal Synthesis Approaches.

Earth-abundant transition metal oxides are promising alternatives to precious metal oxides as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and are intensively investigated for alkaline water electrolysis. OER electrocatalysis, like most other catalytic reactions, is surface-initiated, and the catalyst performance is fundamentally determined by the surface properties. Most transition metal oxide catalysts show OER activities that depend on the predominantly exposed crystal facets/surface structure. Therefore, the design of synthetic strategies to obtain the most active crystal facets is of significant research interest. In this work, rock salt NiO OER catalysts with (111) predominantly exposed facets were synthesized by a solvothermal (ST) method either heated under supercritical or microwave-assisted (MW) conditions. Particular emphasis was placed on the influence of the post annealing temperature on the structural configuration and OER activity to compare their catalytic performances. The as-prepared electrocatalysts are pure α-Ni hydroxides which were converted to rock salt NiO (111) nanosheets with hexagonal pores after heat treatment at different temperatures. The OER activity of the electrodes has been evaluated in 0.1 M KOH using geometric and intrinsic current densities via normalization by the disk area and BET area, respectively. The lowest overpotential at a geometric current density of 10 mA/cm2 is found for samples pretreated by heating between 400 and 500 °C with a catalyst loading of 115 µg/cm2. Despite the very similar nature of the catalysts obtained from the two methods, the ST electrodes show a higher geometric and intrinsic current density for 500 °C pretreatment. The MW electrodes, however, achieve an optimal geometric current density for 400 °C pretreatment, while their intrinsic current density requires pretreatment over 600 °C. Interestingly, pretreated electrodes show consistently higher OER activity as compared to the poorly crystalline/less ordered hydroxide as-prepared electrocatalysts. Thus, our study highlights the importance of the synthesis method and pretreatment at an optimal temperature.

Survival Outcomes of Radiofrequency Ablation for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma from the SEER Database: Comparison with Radiotherapy and Resection.

PURPOSE: To determine effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation for treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) using a population-based database. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was extracted from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2000 to 2020 to include 194 patients who underwent ablation for iCCA. Patient demographics, overall survival (OS), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were retrieved. Factors associated with survival were evaluated. Comparison between ablation and surgical resection (n=2653) or external beam radiotherapy (n=1068) were performed. RESULTS: In the ablation group, atients diagnosed and treated after 2010 demonstrated improved OS than the 2000-2009 subgroup (mOS 32 versus 21 months, HR: 0.50 [95%CI: 0.33-0.75], p=0.001). Additional factors associated with OS included tumor size (≤3cm versus >3cm, p=0.049) and tumor stage (p<0.001). For patients diagnosed after 2010, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS were 82.8% (95%CI: 74.8-88.4%), 43.5% (95%CI: 33.5-53.1%), and 23.7% (95%CI: 15.3-33.5%), respectively. Patients with local disease (1-year OS: 87.8% [95%CI: 78.6-93.3%]) demonstrated improved OS than regional (1-year OS: 81.3% [95%CI: 52.5-93.5%]) and distant disease (50.2% [95%CI: 34.0-78.8%], p<0.001). For tumors ≤3cm, ablation and surgical resection offered comparable survival benefits (p=0.561), although both were better than radiotherapy (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Survival of iCCA patients who underwent thermal ablation has improved over the last 10 years. For tumors ≤3cm, ablation could be as effective as resection with careful candidate selection, and may be considered as front line compared to radiotherapy in certain patient populations. Patient selection based on tumor size and disease stage could improve survival outcomes.

Percutaneous thermal ablation in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with and without TIPS.

PURPOSE: Managing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is becoming increasingly common. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of percutaneous thermal ablation for treating HCC in patients with TIPS. METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study was conducted at Nantes University Hospital. The main inclusion criteria were patients undergoing percutaneous thermal ablation for HCC. Patients with a pre-existing TIPS were included in the 'TIPS group'. A 1:1 control group without TIPS, the 'n-TIPS group', was created for this case-control study. The primary endpoints were overall survival and progression-free survival over 12 months. Safety was assessed by comparing complications between the groups. RESULTS: Between 2008 and 2020, 371 patients underwent percutaneous thermal ablation for HCC. The 'TIPS group' included 34 patients (66 nodules), while 34 patients (84 nodules) were randomly assigned to the 'n-TIPS group.' Overall survival rates at 1 year were 97% and 94% respectively (p = 0.52). The progression-free survival rate was 68% and 57% respectively (p = 0.35). No deaths occurred within 30 days post-procedure. There were 3 immediate complications in the TIPS group and 4 in the n-TIPS group (p = 1), none of which were related to the TIPS, including thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous thermal ablation for HCC in patients with TIPS appears to be as safe and effective as in TIPS-naïve patients. These results suggest that the presence of a TIPS should not be considered a contraindication for percutaneous thermal ablation in treating HCC.

Development of inorganic-organic CdSe(en)0.5via microwave-assisted method and topotactic transformation into porous CdSe nanosheet photoanode for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production.

In this study, inorganic-organic hybrid CdSe(en)0.5 nanosheet (NS) was developed on Cd foil via the microwave-assisted (MW) method with different MW irradiation cycles. Furthermore, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of the mother material was improved through a second hydrothermal method with different time variations (3, 6, and 12 h at 160 °C). After the second hydrothermal, organic moieties were removed, and a porous photoanode was obtained. The optimized CdSe-6H photoanode showed a photocurrent density of 7.4 mA cm-2 (0  V vs Ag/AgCl) with 272 µmol cm-2/3h hydrogen gas evolution under one sun illumination. The enhanced PEC performance was attributed to the topotactic transformation, improved light absorbance, enhanced charge separation, and improved surface area. This work offers a rational approach for building inorganic-organic electrodes through the MW method and porous photoanode for PEC hydrogen production.

Effects of microwave vacuum drying on drying characteristics, quality attributes and starch structure of germinated brown rice.

Germinated brown rice (GBR) has high nutritional and health-promoting value, but the influence mechanism of microwave vacuum drying (MVD) on the quality properties of GBR is still unclear. This study investigated the effects of MVD parameters including microwave intensities (9, 12, and 15 W/g), drying temperatures (50, 60, and 70 °C), and vacuum pressures (0.03, 0.05, and 0.07 MPa) on the drying characteristics, quality attributes and starch structure of GBR. A falling-rate phase dominated the MVD process of GBR and temperature-controlled MVD significantly preserved the GABA content in GBR. MVD caused microstructural changes with rearrangement and gelatinization of starch granules in GBR. For the GBR under MVD, increasing the drying temperature resulted in a significant decrease in enthalpy (ΔH) and an increase in the degree of starch gelatinization (DSG) (P < 0.05), however, no significant effect of microwave intensity and vacuum pressure on ΔH and DSG (P > 0.05) was found. MVD reduced the relative crystallinity but hardly changed the crystal type or formed functional groups of starch molecules in GBR. Overall, temperature-controlled MVD conduced to the final quality of GBR. This study may provide a potential method to improve the quality attributes of GBR in product development applications.

Review on microwave immobilization of soil heavy metals: Processes and mechanisms.

Soil contamination with heavy metals (HMs) is still a global issue. The maintenance of long-term stability of HMs in soil during immobilization remediation is a challenge. Microwave (MW) technology can promote the immobilization of HMs in the form of crystals and minerals, thus enhancing their resistance of corrosion. This review provides a comprehensive introduction to the basics of MW irradiation through 177 papers, and reviews the research progress of MW involvement in the immobilization of soil HMs in 10 years. The effects of MW parameter settings, absorber/fixative types and soil physicochemical properties on immobilized HMs are investigated. The immobilization mechanisms of HMs are discussed, high-temperature physical encapsulation and chemical stabilization are the two basic mechanisms in the immobilization process. MW has a unique heating method to achieve efficient remediation by shortening remediation time, reducing the activation energy of reactions and promoting the transformation of stabilization products. Finally, the current limitations of MW in the remediation of HMs contaminated soils are systematically discussed and the corresponding proposed solutions are presented which may provide directions for further laboratory studies. There are still serious problems in taking the results obtained in the laboratory to the full scale. Thus, process optimization, scale-up, design and demonstration are strongly desired. In summary, this review may help new researchers to seize the research frontier in MW and can serve as a reference for future development of MW technology in soil remediation.

Excellent Low-Frequency Microwave Absorption and High Thermal Conductivity in Polydimethylsiloxane Composites Endowed by Hydrangea-Like CoNi@BN Heterostructure Fillers.

The advancement of thin, lightweight, and high-power electronic devices has increasingly exacerbated issues related to electromagnetic interference and heat accumulation. To address these challenges, a spray-drying-sintering process is employed to assemble chain-like CoNi and flake boron nitride (BN) into hydrangea-like CoNi@BN heterostructure fillers. These fillers are then composited with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to develop CoNi@BN/PDMS composites, which integrate low-frequency microwave absorption and thermal conductivity. When the volume fraction of CoNi@BN is 44 vol% and the mass ratio of CoNi to BN is 3:1, the CoNi@BN/PDMS composites exhibit optimal performance in both low-frequency microwave absorption and thermal conductivity. These composites achieve a minimum reflection loss of -49.9 dB and a low-frequency effective absorption bandwidth of 2.40 GHz (3.92-6.32 GHz) at a thickness of 4.4 mm, fully covering the n79 band (4.4-5.0 GHz) for 5G communications. Meanwhile, the in-plane thermal conductivity (λ∥) of the CoNi@BN/PDMS composites is 7.31 W m-1 K-1, which is ≈11.4 times of the λ∥ (0.64 W m-1 K-1) for pure PDMS, and 32% higher than that of the (CoNi/BN)/PDMS composites (5.52 W m-1 K-1) with the same volume fraction of CoNi and BN obtained through direct mixing.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of microwave ablation versus robot-assisted partial nephrectomy for patients with small renal masses in Australia.

OBJECTIVES: Microwave ablation (MWA) has gained attention as a minimally invasive and safe alternative to surgical intervention for patients with small renal masses; however, its cost-effectiveness in Australia remains unclear. This study conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate the relative clinical and economic merits of MWA compared to robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RA-PN) in the treatment of small renal masses. METHODS: A Markov state-transition model was constructed to simulate the progression of Australian patients with small renal masses treated with MWA versus RA-PN over a 10-year horizon. Transition probabilities and utility data were sourced from comprehensive literature reviews, and cost data were estimated from the Australian health system perspective. Life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and lifetime costs were estimated. Modelled uncertainty was assessed using both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. A willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $50,000 per QALY was adopted. All costs are expressed in 2022 Australian dollars and discounted at 3% annually. To assess the broader applicability of our findings, a validated cost-adaptation method was employed to extend the analysis to 8 other high-income countries. RESULTS: Both the base case and cost-adaptation analyses revealed that MWA dominated RA-PN, producing both lower costs and greater effectiveness over 10 years. The cost-effectiveness outcome was robust across all model parameters. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed that MWA was dominant in 98.3% of simulations at the designated WTP threshold, underscoring the reliability of the model under varying assumptions. CONCLUSION: For patients with small renal masses in Australia and comparable healthcare settings, MWA is the preferred strategy to maximize health benefits per dollar, making it a highly cost-effective alternative to RA-PN.

Assessing the biochemical and genotoxic effects of low intensity 2.45GHz microwave exposure on Arabidopsis thaliana plants.

The electromagnetic waves of 2.45 GHz microwave frequency have become abundant in environments worldwide. This study assessed the short-term impact of low-intensity 2.45 GHz exposure on young Arabidopsis thaliana plants. The plants underwent a 48-hour exposure to continuous wave 2.45 GHz microwaves at a power density of 1.0 ± 0.1 W m-2. Experiments were conducted inside anechoic chambers. After the microwave exposure samples were subjected to morphological, genotoxicity, pigmentation, and physiochemical analysis. Microwave exposure elevated the levels of photosynthetic pigments, oxidative stress, guaiacol peroxidase activity, and ascorbic peroxidase activity in plants. Conversely, catalase activity decreased. Photosystem efficiency remained unchanged, while non-photochemical quenching increased. Leaf morphological parameters exhibited no significant alterations during this brief exposure period. Notably, despite shifts in physiological parameters and pigmentations, genomic template stability remained unaffected. The findings suggest that the non-thermal effects of microwave exposure influence the photosystem and plant physiology. Research confirmed the existence of non-thermal effects of microwave exposure; however, these effects are within tolerable limits for Arabidopsis thaliana plants.

Microwaves are a category of radio waves with wavelengths ranging from approximately 30 centimeters to one millimeter. The most utilized microwave frequency these days is 2.45GHz, which is used in everyday devices such as microwaves and WiFi signals. This investigation explored the impact of low-intensity 2.45GHz microwaves on young thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants for 48hours. In other words, research is comparable to scientific assessing how plants respond to the proximity of a 2G WiFi signal. The exposure resulted in increased pigment production in plants and displayed indications of stress, influencing specific plant activities. However, these alterations did not compromise the stability of the genetic materials of the plants. This suggests that although low-intensity microwaves can affect plant systems, the effects appear to be manageable during brief exposures.