Achieving three-dimensional lithium sulfide growth in lithium-sulfur batteries using high-donor-number anions.

Uncontrolled growth of insulating lithium sulfide leads to passivation of sulfur cathodes, which limits high sulfur utilization in lithium-sulfur batteries. Sulfur utilization can be augmented in electrolytes based on solvents with high Gutmann Donor Number; however, violent lithium metal corrosion is a drawback. Here we report that particulate lithium sulfide growth can be achieved using a salt anion with a high donor number, such as bromide or triflate. The use of bromide leads to ~95 % sulfur utilization by suppressing electrode passivation. More importantly, the electrolytes with high-donor-number salt anions are notably compatible with lithium metal electrodes. The approach enables a high sulfur-loaded cell with areal capacity higher than 4 mA h cm-2 and high sulfur utilization ( > 90 %). This work offers a simple but practical strategy to modulate lithium sulfide growth, while conserving stability for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Spherical Macroporous Carbon Nanotube Particles with Ultrahigh Sulfur Loading for Lithium-Sulfur Battery Cathodes.

A carbon host capable of effective and uniform sulfur loading is the key for lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Despite the application of porous carbon materials of various morphologies, the carbon hosts capable of uniformly impregnating highly active sulfur is still challenging. To address this issue, we demonstrate a hierarchical pore-structured CNT particle host containing spherical macropores of several hundred nanometers. The macropore CNT particles (M-CNTPs) are prepared by drying the aerosol droplets in which CNTs and polymer particles are dispersed. The spherical macropore greatly improves the penetration of sulfur into the carbon host in the melt diffusion of sulfur. In addition, the formation of macropores greatly develops the volume of the micropore between CNT strands. As a result, we uniformly impregnate 70 wt % sulfur without sulfur residue. The S-M-CNTP cathode shows a highly reversible capacity of 1343 mA h g-1 at a current density of 0.2 C even at a high sulfur content of 70 wt %. Upon a 10-fold current density increase, a high capacity retention of 74% is observed. These cathodes have a higher sulfur content than those of conventional CNT hosts but nevertheless exhibit excellent performance. Our CNTPs and pore control technology will advance the commercialization of CNT hosts for LSBs.

Four cases of a cerebral air embolism complicating a percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy.

A percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy is a common procedure in the practice of pulmonology. An air embolism is a rare but potentially fatal complication of a percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy. We report four cases of a cerebral air embolism that developed after a percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy. Early diagnosis and the rapid application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the mainstay of therapy for an embolism. Prevention is the best course and it is essential that possible risk factors be avoided.

Forkhead box M1 expression in pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma: correlation with clinicopathologic features and its prognostic significance.

Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) transcription factor has been shown to play important roles in regulating the expression of genes that are involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and transformation by promoting both G(1)/S and G(2)/M transition. Although it has been reported that the FoxM1 signaling network is frequently deregulated with an up-regulated FoxM1 expression in human malignancies, the role of FoxM1 in lung cancer remains to be determined. We performed immunohistochemical detection of FoxM1 protein in 69 tissue samples from patients with primary pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma using a tissue microarray, and Western blotting was done to confirm the immunohistochemical observations. FoxM1 immunoreactivity was observed in 26 (37.7%) of the 69 squamous cell carcinoma cases. Analysis of the FoxM1 expression in 12 squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 2 normal lung tissues by Western blotting confirmed the immunohistochemical results. A FoxM1 expression was more frequently detected in the moderately or poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas than in the well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas (P = .008). The tumors with a positive FoxM1 expression more frequently showed lymph node metastasis (P = .027) and an advanced American Joint Committee on Cancer stage (P = .049). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated that patients with a positive FoxM1 expression had a significantly shorter survival time than those patients with a negative FoxM1 expression (P = .003). The multivariate analysis revealed that the FoxM1 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor (P = .018). A subset of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma with a FoxM1 expression was associated with progressive pathologic features and an aggressive clinical course.

Fatal interstitial lung disease after erlotinib administration in a patient with radiation fibrosis.

INTRODUCTION: Although gefitinib used for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer is a well-known cause of interstitial lung disease (ILD), few case reports on erlotinib-induced ILD have been issued. The common risk factor of both of these two drug-induced ILDs is idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, but ILD in a patient with radiation fibrosis has not been previously reported. METHODS: Report of a case. RESULTS: We recently experienced a case of fatal erlotinib-induced ILD, diagnosed based on clinical and radiologic findings, which occurred in a patient with radiation fibrosis. A 50-year-old male patient was started on erlotinib as a third-line chemotherapy. Six days after taking erlotinib, a chest radiograph showed rapid progression of reticular infiltration in both lung fields. High-resolution computed tomography scan findings were consistent with ILD, which was sufficient to diagnose as erlotinib-induced ILD. The patient died of respiratory failure after 8 days of steroid infusion and erlotinib discontinuation. CONCLUSION: Our case shows a fatal side effect of erlotinib. This case had radiation fibrosis, so we suggest that radiation fibrosis may be another contributor of the occurrence of ILD in patients taking erlotinib.

Pulmonary paraganglioma manifesting as an endobronchial mass.

Thoracic paragangliomas comprise only 1-2% of all paragangliomas, including the adrenal pheochromocytomas, and these tumors are mostly found in the mediastinal compartments (1). To the best of our knowledge, there is only one case report in the pathology literature of endobronchial involvement by a primary pulmonary paraganglioma (2). We report here on the CT and bronchoscopic findings of a case of pathologically proven endobronchial paraganglioma in a 37-year-old woman. In our case, bronchoscopy and CT demonstrated an endobronchial hypervascular mass, which indicated the presence of carcinoid or hypervascular metastasis based on the known incidence of such tumors.

Fascin immunoreactivity for preoperatively predicting lymph node metastases in peripheral adenocarcinoma of the lung 3 cm or less in diameter.

OBJECTIVE: Fascin is an actin-bundling protein that induces cell membrane protrusions and increases the motility of normal and transformed epithelial cells. We evaluated the expression of fascin by performing immunohistochemistry to determine its role in the progression of small-size peripheral lung adenocarcinomas and to elucidate its utility as a preoperative novel therapeutic option. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for fascin was performed in 49 peripheral adenocarcinomas of 25% (high grade). RESULTS: Overall, fascin immunoreactivity was detected in 30 (61.2%) out of the total 49 cases. The tumors with high-grade fascin immunoreacivity tended to more frequently show lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0007), lymphovascular invasion (P = 0.0084) and a higher stage (P = 0.05). There was no significant association with age, gender, tumor size and the histological subtype. The 2mm-sized TMA cores, which were considered as a substitute for percutaneous needle biopsy sample in this study, showed concordant results with the CWT section (kappa = 0.836). CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that fascin immunoreactivity may identify the subsets of peripheral adenocarcinomas of the lung 3 cm or less in diameter that have a different potential to metastasize to the regional lymph nodes. The evaluation of fascin immunoreactivity on the preoperative biopsy sample could be a novel therapeutic strategy for selecting the most appropriate therapy for small-size pulmonary adenocarcinomas.

Hyaline vascular-type Castleman disease presenting as an esophageal submucosal tumor: case report.

Castleman disease is a relatively rare disorder of lymphoid tissue that involves the gastrointestinal tract in a variety of clinical and pathologic manifestations. A submucosal location has never been described in the medical literature. We report a case of esophageal Castleman disease involving the submucosal layer in a 62-year-old man, which was confirmed on pathology. Esophagography and CT demonstrated an intramural tumor, and a leiomyoma or leiomyosarcoma was suspected based on the known incidence of such tumors.

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody levels in a pregnant woman taking propylthiouracil.

Propylthiouracil (PTU) is known to be a potential cause of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) positive small vessel vasculitis, resulting in glomerulonephritis and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). Herein, we describe a 25-year-old pregnant woman who developed a perinulcear ANCA (p-ANCA) and myeloperoxidase ANCA (MPO-ANCA) positive DAH during PTU therapy. The patient improved after corticosteroid therapy and discontinuation of the PTU. Methimazole was prescribed in spite of the risk of recurrence of DAH because of the pregnancy. The patient is currently free from pulmonary problems. Our case shows that the alternative agent, methimazole, can be used to treat hyperthyroidism in a pregnant patient with PTU associated DAH.

Inhaled nitric oxide improves the survival of the paraquat-injured rats.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of inhaled nitric oxide (NO) on the paraquat-induced lung injury in rats. The rats were assigned to four groups: control; inhaled NO (5 ppm); paraquat (PQ, 30 mg/kg); and PQ+NO group. For first 18 h the inhalation of NO mixed with room air was performed. Total white blood cell (WBC), neutrophil, total protein, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in serum and/or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, serum malonaldehyde (MDA), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) of lung were measured and lung histopathology were also reviewed. The 72-h survival rate of PQ group was 58%, but the survival rate of PQ+NO group, NO group and control group were 100%, respectively. The serum MDA and TGF-beta1 in BAL fluid and blood of PQ+NO group were significantly lower than those of PQ group. However, inhaled NO did not decrease the elevated total WBC and neutrophil counts, and total protein, LDH and MPO activity in the lung injured by PQ. The alveolar septal thickening and inflammatory cell infiltration were not different between PQ and PQ+NO groups. NO inhalation may be beneficial for the survival of paraquat-induced injured rats by attenuating lipid peroxidation and production of TGF-beta1.

Role of vasospasm in acute coronary syndrome: insights from ergonovine stress echocardiography.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that ergonovine stress echocardiography (ESE) may be a valuable noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of vasospasm after the confirmation of no significant fixed stenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: From May 1999 to January 2002, 52 patients who presented with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and had normal or near-normal coronary angiograms were enrolled. A 50 microg bolus of ergonovine was given intravenously at 5-min intervals, until a positive result was observed or a total dose of 350 microg was given. After the ergonovine injection, positive results were found in 25 (48%) of 52 patients: 5 (26%) of 19 with unstable angina, 10 (53%) of 19 non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (MI) and 10 (71%) of 14 patients with ST elevation MI. Using univariate analysis, the elevation of troponin concentration, clinical diagnosis of MI, and ST segment elevation on initial electrocardiographic were significantly associated with positive stress test results. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limitation that coronary spasm was not confirmed angiographically with ergonovine provocation, ESE may be a useful technique for the noninvasive diagnosis of vasospasm.

Relationship between PTEN and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

PURPOSE: This study was performed to determine the relationship between PTEN and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and to assess their roles in the tumor-induced angiogenesis and tumor progression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues, from 96 patients diagnosed with NSCLC, were evaluated for VEGF and PTEN expression using immunohistochemical methods. The results of the expression pattern of VEGF alone, or in combination with PTEN expression, were compared with clinicopathological parameters. RESULTS: VEGF expression was seen in 54 (56.3%) of the 96 NSCLCs evaluated, and was significantly correlated with histological type, and seen more frequently in adenocarcinomas compared to the other histological types (p<0.05). There were no significant associations between VEGF expression and tumor size, lymph node metastasis and stage. The microvessel density (MVD) determined by CD34 staining were significantly higher in tumors with VEGF expression (62.9+/-21.8) than those without (55.1+/-15.1). Loss of PTEN expression was seen in 33 (34.4%) of the 96 NSCLCs evaluated. VEGF expression was more frequently detected in the tumors with loss of PTEN expression (69.7%) than in those with PTEN expression (49.2%). When the combined VEGF/ PTEN phenotypes were divide into two groups; group I (VEGF-/PTEN+) and group II (VEGF-/ PTEN-, VEGF+/PTEN+, VEGF+/PTEN-), a significant correlation was also seen between the groups and the histologic types. There was a trend for the tumors in group II to show more frequent lymph node metastasis (50.0%) than those in group I (31.5%), although there was no statistical significance. The MVDs were significantly higher in group II (63.1+/-20.7) than in group I (53.4+/-17.2). CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate an inverse correlation between the expressions of PTEN and VEGF. It is possible that PTEN may repress VEGF expression, and modulate VEGF-mediated angiogenesis, which suggests further analysis of the complex phenomenon of neo-angiogenesis in NSCLC is essential.