The Prospective Implementation of the 2015 ATA Guidelines and Modified ATA Recurrence Risk Stratification System for Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in a Canadian Tertiary Care Referral Setting.

Objective: To present clinical outcomes of the prospective implementation of the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines for the management of thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) using the modified ATA recurrence risk (RR) stratification system. Methods: We prospectively analyzed 612 patients with DTC treated between April 2017 and December 2021 in Calgary, Alberta. Each patient was prospectively assigned a modified ATA RR and American Joint Committee Cancer 8th edition stage. Initial risk stratification and consideration of the 2015 ATA guidelines guided surgical management as well as the indication for and dose of radioiodine (RAI) and other adjuvant therapies. Patients were assessed for their response to treatment (RTT) at 2-years postoperatively. Results: There were 479 patients who had 2-year follow-up data and were included in the study. Of these patients, there were 253 (53%) low-, 129 (27%) intermediate-, and 97 (20%) high-RR patients. Of these, 227 patients (47%) underwent total thyroidectomy (TTX) plus RAI, 178 (37%) underwent TTX only, and 74 (16%) underwent lobectomy. The RTT at 2 years was excellent for 89% (66) of patients with lobectomy, 84% (149) for TTX only, and 53% (121) for TTX plus RAI. Among 253 patients who were deemed low RR, 85% (216) had excellent RTT, 13% (32) indeterminate RTT, 2% (4) biochemical incomplete RTT, and 1 patient had structural incomplete RTT. The intermediate RR group had the following RTT outcomes: 64% (83) excellent, 23% (30) indeterminate, 6% (7) biochemical incomplete, and 7% (9) structural incomplete. The high RR group had the worst RTT outcomes, with 38% (37) excellent, 19% (18) indeterminate, 10% (10) biochemical incomplete, and 33% (32) structural incomplete RTT. Conclusions: The 2015 ATA RR stratification system is useful for predicting disease status at 2-year post-treatment in patients with DTC. The 2015 ATA guidelines and modified ATA RR stratification treatment recommendations may reduce thyroid cancer overtreatment by including lobectomy as a definitive treatment option for low-risk thyroid cancers and selective use of RAI for intermediate and high-risk patients.

Involvement of the organics in aqueous phase of bio-oil in hydrothermal carbonization of lignin.

Aqueous phase of bio-oil (APBO) is water-rich but also contains some sugar-derivatives and phenolics. APBO has little potential as feedstock for producing biofuel, but can be potentially used as medium for hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of biomass. In this study, the HTC of lignin in APBO was conducted, aiming to probe the influence of the organics in APBO on property of the hydrochar. The results indicated that the organics in APBO cross-polymerized with lignin derivatives, resulted in the yield of hydrochar to exceed 100%. In addition, APBO promotes the deoxygenation but does not promote dehydrogenation. More aliphatic structures are generated in the hydrochar, reducing its thermal stability. In addition, the hydrochar from APBO also shows the improved combustion performance by lowering the activation energy and the ignition temperature (180 vs 240 °C).

Hydrogen-bonded frameworks crystals-assisted synthesis of flower-like carbon materials with penetrable meso/macropores from heavy fraction of bio-oil for Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors.

The application of biomass-based carbon materials in electrode materials are usually subject to their deficient adsorption sites as well as sluggish diffusion of electrolyte ions. Herein, flower-like carbons are obtained from the heavy fraction of bio-oil with the auxiliary of Hydrogen-bonded frameworks (HOFs) crystals. During the co-carbonization of the both, the HOFs crystals are removed on account of its poor stability, which directs the formation of flower-like morphology and generates the penetrable meso/macropores across petal-like carbon nanosheets. In addition, the pyrolysis gases serve as the agents for activation to enrich the active sites without the further activation. The degree of graphitization and the contents of pyridine nitrogen for carbon materials could be flexibly adjusted with the contents of HOFs. Owing to the beneficial 3D flower-like structure, high specific surface area (1076 m2/g), large pore volume (2.59 cm3/g), and rational N species, the assembled Zn//BH-4 hybrid supercapacitor reaches a superior energy density of 117.5 Wh/kg at 890 W/kg and maintains 60.7 Wh/kg even at 16.2 kW/kg.

Fates of heavy organics of bio-oil in hydrotreatment: The key challenge in the way from biomass to biofuel.

Heavy organics in bio-oil generally refer to the sugar oligomers and lignin-derivatives. They are important fractions in bio-oil and their effective conversion in hydrotreatment determines carbon yield from biomass or bio-oil to biofuel. Fates of the heavy organics largely determine intrinsic reaction behaviors of bio-oil during hydrotreatment. The heavy organics in bio-oil have high tendency towards polymerization upon thermal treatment, which is one of the main precursors for coke formation and catalyst deactivation. Furthermore, the heavy organics have some other unique characteristics in hydrotreatment such as the steric hindrance for contacting active sites on surface of catalyst. How to effectively convert the heavy organics has been regarded as the bottle-neck issue in hydrotreatment of bio-oil and the key barrier in the roadmap from biomass to biofuels. Thus, this review particularly focuses on the progress in understanding reaction behaviors of the heavy organics in hydrotreatment of bio-oil, a central challenge to be resolved. The results indicated that coke formation from heavy organics in bio-oil remains main obstacle in hydrotreatment and further fundamental studies are required to develop suitable catalyst and process to stabilize the heavy organics in bio-oil. In particular, the mechanism for coke formation from the heavy species of varied chemical family should be clarified and corresponding measures should be developed to tackle high tendency of coking. Techno-economic feasibility should be considered in the first place in development of catalysts or process for tackling the heavy fractions of bio-oil.

Mechanistic and therapeutic study of novel anti-tumor function of natural compound imperialine for treating non-small cell lung cancer.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Bulbus Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (BFC) is a Chinese traditional herbal medicine that has long been used as an indispensable component in herbal prescriptions for bronchopulmonary diseases due to its well-established strong anti-inflammation and pulmonary harmonizing effects. Interestingly, there are few case reports in traditional Chinese medicine available where they found it to contribute in anti-tumor therapies. Imperialine is one of the most favored active substances extracted from BFC and has been widely recognized as an anti-inflammatory agent. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the current work is to provide first-hand evidences both in vitro and in vivo showing that imperialine exerts anti-cancer effects against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to explore the molecular mechanism of this anti-tumor activity. It is also necessary to examine its systemic toxicity, and to investigate how to develop strategies for feasible clinical translation of imperialine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To investigate anti-NSCLC efficacy of imperialine using both in vitro and in vivo methods where A549 cell line were chosen as in vitro model NSCLC cells and A549 tumor-bearing mouse model was constructed for in vivo study. The detailed underlying anti-cancer mechanism has been systematically explored for the first time through a comprehensive set of molecular biology methods mainly including immunohistochemistry, western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The toxicity profile of imperialine treatments were evaluated using healthy nude mice by examining hemogram and histopathology. An imperialine-loaded liposomal drug delivery system was developed using thin film hydration method to evaluate target specific delivery. RESULTS: The results showed that imperialine could suppress both NSCLC tumor and associated inflammation through an inflammation-cancer feedback loop in which NF-κB activity was dramatically inhibited by imperialine. The NSCLC-targeting liposomal system was successfully developed for targeted drug delivery. The developed platform could favorably enhance imperialine cellular uptake and in vivo accumulation at tumor sites, thus improving overall anti-tumor effect. The toxicity assays revealed imperialine treatments did not significantly disturb blood cell counts in mice or exert any significant damage to the main organs. CONCLUSIONS: Imperialine exerts anti-cancer effects against NSCLC both in vitro and in vivo, and this previously unknown function is related to NF-κB centered inflammation-cancer feedback loop. Imperialine mediated anti-cancer activity is not through cytotoxicity and exhibit robust systemic safety. Furthermore, the liposome-based system we commenced would dramatically enhance therapeutic effects of imperialine while exhibiting extremely low side effects both on cellular and in NSCLC model. This work has identified imperialine as a promising novel anti-cancer compound and offered an efficient target-delivery solution that greatly facilitate practical use of imperialine.

Soft-templated mesoporous carbon-modified glassy carbon electrode for sensitive and selective detection of aristolochic acids.

In this study, ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was synthesized by applying a soft template method, and its mesoporous structure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption-desorption techniques. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic analyses were conducted to demonstrate the high graphitization and topological defects at the sample surface. An electrochemical sensor based on an OMC-modified glassy carbon electrode (OMC/GCE) was constructed to detect aristolochic acids (AAs) using cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The dependence of the experimental parameters including solution pH, scan rate, and accumulation time were examined and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the response of OMC/GCE was linear over wide concentration ranges of AAs (0.6-10 µM and 10-50 µM), with sensitivities of -1.77 and -0.31 µA/µM, respectively. The limit of detection was calculated to be 0.186 µM (at S/N = 3). Furthermore, the proposed OMC/GCE was applied to detect AAs in Asarum sieboldini and the content of AAs was calculated to be 8.9 µg/g with high accuracy and precision. In addition, the modified electrode also exhibited good selectivity, reproducibility, and stability. Therefore, the OMC/GCE can be used as a platform for the determination of AAs.

GSH and enzyme responsive nanospheres based on self-assembly of green tea polyphenols and BSA used for target cancer chemotherapy.

Developing safe and effective stimuli-responsive nanocarriers is very important for tumor chemotherapy. In this work, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and green tea polyphenol (TP) were used to prepare glutathione (GSH) and enzyme (trypsin) responsive nanocarriers for doxorubicin (DOX). These nanocarriers were further modified with folate, briefly named as DOX@BSA-TP-FA NSs. The diameter of nanocarriers was about 220 nm. The DOX loading efficiency and loading amount were 86.4% and 23.5 wt%, respectively. The cellular uptake, apoptosis, and GSH and trypsin responsive release properties of these nanocarriers were investigated.

Effect of acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions on product distribution and biocrude oil chemistry from hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae produces high amount of water-insoluble organic compounds, the biocrude oil. Using high-growth-rate Spirulina platensis as feedstock, product fraction distribution and biocrude oil chemistry from HTL at a temperature of 240-300 °C under acidic, neutral and alkaline condition were studied. Positive effects on biocrude oil yield were only found with KOH and acetic acid, and these effects were stronger under milder HTL conditions. FT-ICR MS showed that O2 class in the biocrude was high due to higher carbohydrate in the biomass, numbers of N3O5-6 species present in the sample from acetic acid run, indicating its less decarboxylation ability. GC-MS showed more ketones and amides were formed from fatty acids in catalytic HTL, and this effect was sensitive toward reaction temperature. GPC suggested more light volatiles were in biocrude from KOH run, while analysis from NMR, FT-IR and elemental confirmed its high oil quality.

[Investigation on response of the patient-reported outcome scale of the main-symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complicated with pulmonary heart disease].

OBJECTIVE: To select appropriate descriptors for response of the patient-reported outcome (PRO) scale for the main symptoms of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) complicated with pulmonary heart disease. METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation was carried out. Five equidistant ordinal descriptive words in the PRO scale of main symptoms for COPD complicated with pulmonary heart disease were selected. There were 32 alternative words in the questionnaire. Thirty respondents were required to place each descriptive word on a 10-centimeter line according to where they considered each descriptive word should be placed. Then, the line was measured by ruler; average, standard deviation and median were calculated by excel software; the authors finally chose the five equidistant words which accurately reflect the degree of main symptoms. RESULTS: The five most appropriate descriptive words were selected; they were "never", "seldom", "half-partly sometimes", "very often" and "always". CONCLUSION: These selected decorated words are suitable for the PRO scale for patients with COPD complicated with pulmonary heart disease.

Esterification of bio-oil from mallee (Eucalyptus loxophleba ssp. gratiae) leaves with a solid acid catalyst: Conversion of the cyclic ether and terpenoids into hydrocarbons.

Bio-oil from pyrolysis of mallee (Eucalyptus loxophleba ssp. gratiae) leaves differs from that obtained with wood by its content of cyclic ethers, terpenoids and N-containing organic compounds. Upgrading of the leaf bio-oil in methanol with a solid acid catalyst was investigated and it was found that the N-containing organics in the bio-oil lead to deactivation of the catalyst in the initial stage of exposure and have to be removed via employing high catalyst loading to allow the occurrence of other acid-catalysed reactions. Eucalyptol, the main cyclic ether in the bio-oil, could be converted into the aromatic hydrocarbon, p-cymene, through a series of intermediates including α-terpineol, terpinolene, and α-terpinene. Various steps such as ring-opening, dehydration, isomerisation, and aromatization were involved in the conversion of eucalyptol. The terpenoids in bio-oil could also be converted into aromatic hydrocarbons that can serve as starting materials for the synthesis of fine chemicals, via the similar processes.

Vitamin K(3) and K(5) are inhibitors of tumor pyruvate kinase M2.

Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) is a rate-limiting enzyme of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells and plays important roles in cancer metabolism and growth. Here we show that vitamin K(3) and K(5) (VK(3) and VK(5)) are relatively specific PKM2 inhibitors. VK(3) and VK(5) showed a significantly stronger potency to inhibit PKM2 than to inhibit PKM1 and PKL, 2 other isoforms of PK dominantly expressed in most adult tissues and liver. This study combined with previous reports supports that VK(3) and VK(5) have potential as adjuvant for cancer chemotherapy.

[Study on the treatment of oilfield produced wastewater with different salinities using halophile enhanced biological activated carbon].

The treatment of oilfield produced wastewater with different qualities and different salinities were carried out using halophile enhanced biological activated carbon. COD, UV254 were detected as the index to indicate the efficiency of oilfield produced wastewater treatment. Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR) was used to determine the activity of biofilm living in the activated carbon. The activity of biofilm presents a trend that is from reducing, resuming, to stabilizing with increasing of the proportion of oilfield produced wastewater. With HRT of 5 h, the removal rate of COD of Le'an and Xianhe oilfield produced wastewater achieves 64.86% and 53.62%, respectively. UV254 is partly removed, too. For Le'an oilfield produced wastewater with different salinities from 1.0% to 3.0%, the removal rates of COD are between 64.86% and 66.67%. The results illuminate that for the successfully domesticated microorganisms, only salinity's changing will not make distinct impact on them if the qualities of wastewater are not changed. The difference of COD in oilfield produced wastewater is the primary factor that makes influence on treatment effect for the different water quality.

Down-regulation of P-glycoprotein expression in MDR breast cancer cell MCF-7/ADR by honokiol.

P-glycoprotein accounts for the most intrinsic and acquired cancer multidrug resistance. To inhibit the expression of P-glycoprotein is one of the effective ways to reverse cancer drug resistance. Honokiol, a naturally occurring compound, has been demonstrated to combat cancer through mechanisms including inhibition of angiogenesis and induction of apoptosis. Here, we show that honokiol down-regulated the expression of P-glycoprotein at mRNA and protein levels in MCF-7/ADR, a human breast MDR cancer cell line. The down-regulation of P-glycoprotein was accompanied with a partial recovery of the intracellular drug accumulation, and of the sensitivities toward adriamycin. This study reveals a novel function of honokiol as an anti-cancer agent.

Honokiol: a potent chemotherapy candidate for human colorectal carcinoma.

AIM: To investigate the anticancer activity of honokiol on RKO, a human colorectal carcinoma cell line in vitro and in vivo, and to evaluate its possible use in clinic. METHODS: In vitro anticancer activity of honokiol was demonstrated by its induction of apoptosis in tumor cells. We analyzed cell proliferation with MTT assay, cell cycle with flow cytosmeter, DNA fragment with electrophoresis on agarose gels. To test the mechanism of honokiol-induced apoptosis, Western blotting was used to investigate the factors involved in this process. The pharmacokinetics study of honokiol was tested by high phase liquid chromatography. In in vivo study, Balb/c nude mice were incubated with RKO cells. Honokiol was injected intraperitoneally every other day into tumor bearing Balb/c nude mice. RESULTS: Our results showed that honokiol induced apoptosis of RKO cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. At 5-10 microg/mL for 48 h, honokiol induced apoptosis through activating Caspase cascades. Pharmacokinetics study demonstrated that, honokiol could be absorbed quickly by intraperitoneal injection, and maintained in plasma for more than 10 h. In nude mice bearing RKO-incubated tumor, honokiol displayed anticancer activity by inhibiting tumor growth and prolonging the lifespan of tumor bearing mice. CONCLUSION: With its few toxicity to normal cells and potent anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo, honokiol might be a potential chemotherapy candidate in treating human colorectal carcinoma.