Preoperative prediction and risk assessment of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and highly lethal tumors worldwide. Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a significant risk factor for recurrence and poor prognosis after surgical resection for HCC patients. Accurately predicting the status of MVI preoperatively is critical for clinicians to select treatment modalities and improve overall survival. However, MVI can only be diagnosed by pathological analysis of postoperative specimens. Currently, numerous indicators in serology (including liquid biopsies) and imaging have been identified to effective in predicting the occurrence of MVI, and the multi-indicator model based on deep learning greatly improves accuracy of prediction. Moreover, several genes and proteins have been identified as risk factors that are strictly associated with the occurrence of MVI. Therefore, this review evaluates various predictors and risk factors, and provides guidance for subsequent efforts to explore more accurate predictive methods and to facilitate the conversion of risk factors into reliable predictors.

Crystal structure, solvothermal synthesis, thermogravimetric studies and DFT calculations of a five-coordinate cobalt(II) compound based on the N,N-bis-(2-hy-droxy-eth-yl)glycine anion.

The reaction of CoCl2·6H2O, N,N-bis-(2-hy-droxy-eth-yl)glycine and tri-ethyl-amine (Et3N) in ethanol solution under solvothermal conditions produced crystals of [N,N-bis-(2-hy-droxy-eth-yl)glycinato]chloridocobalt(II), [Co(C6H12NO4)Cl]. The CoII ion is coordinated in a slightly distorted trigonal-bipyramidal environment which is defined by three O atoms occupying the equatorial plane and the N and Cl atoms in the apical sites. In the crystal, two types of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect the mol-ecules, forming a two-dimensional network parallel to (001). The mol-ecular structure of the title compound confirms the findings of FTIR, elemental analysis, ESI-MS analysis and TG analysis. By using the density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP) method with 6-31G(d) basis set, the molecular structure has been calculated and optimized.

[Spectral properties and thermal stability of zinc phosphate hydrate].

X-ray, FTIR, and Raman spectra were used to measure the spectral properties of three kinds of zinc phosphate hydrate. Spectral changes with crystalline water were analyzed. The thermal stability of zinc phosphate tetrahydrate was studied by TG-DTA to identify the existent temperature of zinc phosphate hydrate. The results show that the differences in crystalline water among these hydrates results in the variation in both 2theta characteristic values and peaks. The FTIR spectra reflect H--O--H strength information (1 600 cm(-1)) and O--H bond stretching vibrations (3 400-3 500 cm(-1)). Raman spectra show the difference in P--O bond stretching mode at 400-700 cm(-1) and the shape of O--H stretching peak. According to the mass-loss curves, the onset temperature of zinc phosphate tetrahydrate was 95 degrees C. Heating to 145 degrees C was accompanied by the removal of 2H2O and transform into Zn3 (PO4)2 x 2H2O, indicating that Zn3 (PO4)2 x 2H2O was established at this temperature. Zn3 (PO4)2 x H2O can be obtained by heating to 195 degrees C. The third stage of dehydration gave an anhydrous Zn3 (PO4)2 phase.