Bevacizumab improved prognosis for advanced EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma with brain metastasis receiving cerebral radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether the combined use of bevacizumab could improve overall survival (OS) in patients with brain metastasis (BM), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing cerebral radiotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 237 patients with EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma and BM met the inclusion criteria for this retrospective study, including 102 patients in the bevacizumab treatment group and 135 in the non-bevacizumab group. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify EGFR-mutated BM prognostic factors for these patients. RESULTS: At the end of the last follow-up period, 176 patients (74.3%) had died, and the median overall survival (OS) was 34.2 months. We observed a significant difference in the median OS between the bevacizumab and non-bevacizumab groups (45.8 months vs 30.0 months, P < 0.0001). Among the 178 (75.1%) patients who received cerebral radiotherapy, the median OS of patients in the bevacizumab + cerebral radiotherapy group was 45.8 months versus 32.0 months in the non-bevacizumab + cerebral radiotherapy group, respectively (P = 0.0007). Patients treated with bevacizumab after cerebral radiotherapy had a longer median OS than patients treated with bevacizumab before cerebral radiotherapy (59.4 months vs 33.7 months, P = 0.0198). In the univariate analysis, smoking status, Lung-molGPA scores, and bevacizumab therapy showed correlations (HR = 1.450, P = 0.045; HR = 0.700, P = 0.023; HR = 0.499, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that bevacizumab therapy alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.514; P < 0.001) was independently associated with improved OS. CONCLUSION: In patients with BM from EGFR-mutated NSCLC, cerebral radiotherapy with bevacizumab markedly improved OS. This improvement was more evident after cerebral radiotherapy.

Fabrication of a Mesoporous Multimetallic Oxide-based Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistor for pH Sensing.

Sensitive and reliable noninvasive sensors are in demand to cope with an increasing need for robust working conditions and fast results. One of the leading potential technologies is field-effect transistor (FET)-based sensors to improve response time, sensitivity, and stability. Here, a sol-gel method fabricates an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor with a high current and output sensitivity for electrochemical sensing, solving binary device design, component regulating, and long-term stability, while maintaining the promoted sensitivity. Metal oxide-based devices with single and binary contents are fabricated and characterized for monitoring pH changes, with performance fitted to a Nernst-Poisson model. After detecting the performance, the result was compared with devices in different components and ratios to obtain excellent performance and high stability. In addition, these extended gate FETs with multimetallic oxide promise efficiency and stability optimization in terms of a flexible component design, demonstrating the feasibility of the novel sol-gel fabrication method to achieve efficient and reliable FET sensors.

Enhanced adsorption capacity of MgO/N-doped active carbon derived from sugarcane bagasse.

MgO/N-doped active carbon (Mg/N-C) derived from sugarcane bagasse was prepared for the removal of methyl orange (MO). Mg/N-C composites presented the better adsorption capacity than that of active carbon and N-doped active carbon, of which the maximum adsorption capacity of 2-Mg/N-C-b2 for the MO removal is 384.61 mg g-1. The effects of MgO dosage, N-doped content, pyrolysis temperature, pH value, inorganic ions and solution temperature on the adsorption performance of Mg/N-C composites in the MO removal were investigated in detail. The pseudo-second order model and Langmuir isotherm model fitted well with the adsorption kinetics and isotherms of Mg/N-C. The rate-determining step was the boundary diffusion and intra-particle diffusion. The adsorption process of 2-Mg/N-C-b2 was a spontaneous and physisorption process.

Arc-discharge synthesis of nitrogen-doped C embedded TiCN nanocubes with tunable dielectric/magnetic properties for electromagnetic absorbing applications.

The development of novel composites consisting of ceramic and C materials to alleviate increasingly serious electromagnetic radiation is of great significance in the microwave absorption (MA) field, considering their superior anti-oxidation/corrosion performances and good mechanical strength as well as adjustable dielectric loss capabilities. However, it is still a great challenge to broaden their effective absorption bandwidth (reflection loss value ≤-10 dB) and strengthen the absorption intensity simultaneously, which is mostly attributed to the unreliable impedance matching degree at the absorber/air interface. Herein, a feasible strategy is adopted to synthesize TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes, whose low graphitization degree provides desirable impedance matching conditions. In the meantime, masses of core/shell hetero interfaces ensure strong microwave absorption capability. Experimental results reveal that the optimal effective absorption bandwidth of the prepared TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes can reach up to 5.44 GHz with a thickness of 1.88 mm. Our work demonstrates that the TiCN@N-doped C nanocubes have potential for electromagnetic absorbing applications.

In situ synthesis and electronic transport of the carbon-coated Ag@C/MWCNT nanocomposite.

A nanocomposite of Ag@C nanocapsules dispersed in a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) matrix was fabricated in situ by a facile arc-discharge plasma approach, using bulk Ag as the raw target and methane gas as the carbon source. It was found that the Ag@C nanocapsules were ∼10 nm in mean diameter, and the MWCNTs had 17-32 graphite layers in the wall with a thickness of 7-10 nm, while a small quantity of spherical carbon cages (giant fullerenes) were also involved with approximately 20-30 layers of the graphite shell. Typical dielectric behavior was dominant in the electronic transport of Ag@C/MWCNT nanocomposites; however, this was greatly modified by metallic Ag cores with respect to pure MWCNTs. A temperature-dependent resistance and I-V relationship provided evidence of a transition from Mott-David variable range hopping [ln ρ(T) ∼ T -1/4] to Shklovskii-Efros variable range hopping [ln ρ(T) ∼ T -1/2] at 5.4 K. A Coulomb gap, Δ C ≈ 0.05 meV, was obtained for the Ag@C/MWCNT nanocomposite system.

Novel nanocapsules with Co-TiC twin cores and regulable graphitic shells for superior electromagnetic wave absorption.

The synthesis of nanometer materials with unique structures and compositions has proven successful towards the attenuation of electromagnetic (EM) waves. However, it is still a challenge to form special nanostructures by integrating magnetic/dielectric loss materials into one particle due to the difficulties in coupling the heterogeneous components. Herein, we present the synthesis of novel nanocapsules (NCs) with Co-TiC twin cores encapsulated inside graphitic shells using an arc-discharge plasma method. The thickness of the graphitic shell could be controlled by quantitatively tuning the carbon source concentration. The optimal reflection loss (RL) values of the prepared NCs was -66.59 dB at 8.76 GHz with a low thickness of 2.56 mm. The bandwidth of RL ≤ -10 dB was up to 14.4 GHz, which almost covered the entire frequency band, namely, the S to Ku band (3.6 GHz to 18 GHz). This superior EM wave absorption was ascribed to the specific double-core shell nanostructures and effective impedance matching between the magnetic loss and dielectric loss originating from the combination of the magnetic Co and dielectric TiC/C.