Removal of aniline from wastewater by electro-polymerization with superior energy efficiency.

Removal of toxic aniline from wastewater is of great importance in industrial manufacture. Traditional electrochemical methods encounter obstacles such as high energy consumption in mineralization and severe electrode passivation in electro-polymerization. In this paper, we report a practical electro-polymerization method by using Ti/Sb-SnO2/PbO2 anode to treat high concentration aniline wastewater. The cyclic voltammetric experiment was conducted and the problem of electrode passivation was solved by increasing the electrode potential. In the experiments of treating aniline wastewater, the produced solid polymer can separate from water rather than sticking to electrode surface. Elemental analysis shows that oxygen is incorporated in the polymer. Experiments were conducted under different conditions, including current density, pH and initial concentration of aniline and Na2SO4. The electro-polymerization route accounts for nearly 50% contribution in the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Our electro-polymerization method gives an apparent current efficiency (ACE) of 232.15% and an energy consumption (Ep) of 0.008658 kWh g-1COD-1 when half of COD is removed at a current density of 15 mA cm-2, pH of 7.0, initial aniline concentration of 1.2 g L-1 and Na2SO4 concentration of 4 g L.-1.

[Application of automated breast volume scanner and mammography in differentiation of small breast lesions with BI-RADS-US 4].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of automatic breast volume scanner (ABVS) and mammography (MG) in differential diagnosis for small breast lesions with breast imaging reporting and data system ultrasound (BI-RADS-US) 4.
 Methods: ABVS and MG were performed for 103 patients with 109 breast lesions, which were classified as BI-RADS-US 4 by conventional ultrasound (US). Postoperative pathological diagnosis served as gold standard. The diagnostic efficacy for US, US combined with MG, US combined with ABVS and the combination of three methods were compared.
 Results: The sensitivity of US, US combined with MG, US combined with ABVS and the combination of three methods were 85.5%, 86.8%, 94.7% and 96.0%, respectively. The specificity for them were 66.7%, 69.7%, 81.8% and 84.9%, respectively. The accuracy for them were 79.8%, 81.6%, 90.8% and 92.7%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for them were 0.76, 0.78, 0.88 and 0.90, respectively. The accuracy and AUC for US combined with ABVS in differential diagnosis of BI-RADS-US 4 small breast lesions were significantly higher than those of US and US combined with MG (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in sensitivity and specificity among these 3 groups (P>0.05). No significant difference was found in sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC between US combined with ABVS and the combination of three methods (P>0.05).
 Conclusion: Combination of US with ABVS can improve the diagnostic efficacy of conventional US in differential diagnosis for BI-RADS-US 4 small breast lesions, and it is superior to US combined with MG.

Correlation of NGX6 expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis in colon cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore the correlation of NGX6 expression with clinicopathological features and prognosis in colon cancer. METHODS: Clinicopathological feature of 145 patients with colon cancer were analyzed.NGX6 expression was measured using immunohistochemistry methods. The correlation of NGX6 expression with clinicopathological features and prognosis were assessed. RESULTS: Among 145 cases of colon cancer, NGX6 positive expression were found in 76 (52.4%) cases and NGX6 negative expression were found in 69 (47.6%) cases. The expression of NGX6 was closely associated with size tumor, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P=0.002, 0.012, and 0.039, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that NGX6 negative expression was associated with shorter disease-free survival (DFS) (P=0.029) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.015). Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that NGX6 expression was the important independent prognostic factor for colon cancer (P=0.022). CONCLUSION: NGX6 is involved in the invasion and metastasis activity of colon cancer. NGX6 could may be applied as a novel and promising prognostic marker for colon cancer.

Association of ultrasonographic features with NGX6 expression and prognosis in invasive ductal breast carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma-associated gene 6 (NGX6) is a newly discovered tumor suppressor gene. It contains one epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain. Many studies have shown that proteins contain (EGF)-like domain structure affect a variety of biological actions. However, little is known about the relationships between NGX6 expression and biological behaviors in invasive ductal breast carcinoma (IDBC). The study discussed the association of ultrasonographic features with NGX6 expression and prognosis in IDBC. METHODS: Ultrasonographic feature and clinical data in 122 patients with IDBC were retrospectively analyzed. NGX6 expression of IDBC was measured using immunohistochemistry methods. RESULTS: The incidence of the burr sign, lymph node metastasis and abundance blood flow in NGX6 expression negative groups were higher than those in positive groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the association between NGX6 positive expression and higher disease-free survival (DFS) or higher overall survival (OS); Lymph node metastasis is associated with lower DFS or lower OS; Lower blood flow grade is associated with higher DFS. In univariate and multivariate survival analysis, NGX6 expression, lymph node metastasis, TNM and the blood flow grade were the independent prognostic factors for DFS and OS of IDBC. CONCLUSIONS: ultrasonographic features are associated with NGX6 expression in IDBC. NGX6 is involved in the invasion and metastasis activity of IDBC. Our results suggest that NGX6 may be employed as a promising prognostic factor and useful therapeutic target for IDBC. Combination of ultrasonic findings and NGX6 detection may yield clinically useful information for IDBC prognosis.

Clinicopathological significance of NGX6 expression in breast cancer and its relationship to angiogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore clinicopathological significance of Nasopharyngeal carcinoma-associated gene 6 (NGX6) expression in breast cancer and its relationship to angiogenesis. METHODS: Clinicopathological feature of 168 patients with breast cancer were analyzed. NGX6 expression and microvessel density (MVD) in tumor tissue were measured using immunohistochemistry methods. The association of NGX6 expression with MVD and clinicopathological features was assessed. RESULTS: Among 168 cases of breast cancer, NGX6 positive expression were found in 92 (54.8%) cases and NGX6 negative expression were found in 76 (45.2%) cases. Incidence rate of large size tumor, high tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph node metastasis in NGX6 negative expression group were higher than NGX6 positive expression group in breast cancer (P=0.003, 0.007, and 0.003, respectively). MVD in NGX6 negative expression group is 22.5±4.8, MVD in NGX6 positive expression group is 15.2±4.2. MVD in the NGX6 negative expression group was significantly higher than the NGX6 positive expression group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of NGX6 was closely associated with tumor size, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and MVD. NGX6 is involved in metastasis and angiogenesis activity of breast cancer. The study may provide a theoretical basis for anti-angiogenic therapy of breast cancer.