Elimination of grain boundary resistance in vanadoborate electrolyte via the hydrogen-bond interaction of glycerol.

An effective method to eliminate grain boundary resistance of crystalline vanadoborate electrolyte was developed. This method involved the addition of glycerol to result in the formation of many hydrogen bonds between crystal grains, facilitating a rapid transfer of protons across grain boundaries. Using this method, the intrinsic conduction of vanadoborate electrolyte was fully reflected in its bulk materials, valuable for advancing our understanding of vanadoborate electrolytes and for promoting the application of these electrolytes.

More advantages of trocar compared than steel needle in deep venipuncture catheterization.

BACKGROUND: Deep venipuncture catheterization is widely used in clinical anesthesia. However, it is worth thinking about how to improve the rate of successful catheter insertion, and relieve patients' discomfort. This paper aimed to compare the clinical advantages between trocar and steel needle. METHODS: Total 503 adult patients were recruited and randomly assigned. The control group was punctured with steel needle, and the experimental group was punctured with trocar needle. Clinical and followed-up information was recorded. Pearson's chi-squared and spearman test were performed to analyze the correlation between intervention and relative parameters. Univariate logistic regression was performed to verify the odds ratio of trocar needle compared with steel needle. RESULTS: Pearson's chi-square test and Spearman's correlation test showed a significant correlation between puncture success, puncture comfort, successful catheter insertion, puncture time, thrombosis, catheter fever, bleeding, infection and interventions (P < .05). Univariate logistic regression showed that there existed better puncture comfort (odds ratio [OR] = 6.548, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.320-9.925, P < .001), higher successful catheter insertion (OR = 6.060, 95% CI: 3.278-11.204, P < .001), shorter puncture time (OR = 0.147, 95% CI: 0.093-0.233, P < .001), lesser thrombosis (OR = 0.194, 95% CI: 0.121-0.312, P < .001), lesser catheter fever (OR = 0.263, 95% CI: 0.158-0.438, P < .001), lesser bleeding (OR = 0.082, 95% CI: 0.045-0.150, P < .001) and lesser infection (OR = 0.340, 95% CI: 0.202-0.571, P < .001) in trocar group compared with steel needle group. CONCLUSION: Trocar application in deep venipuncture catheterization can improve successful catheter insertion, relieve pain and discomfort of patients, reduce incidence of complications, and provide better security for patients.

One-pot mechanochemical synthesis to encapsulate functional guests into a metal-organic framework for proton conduction.

Through one-pot mechanochemical synthesis, a series of guests [imidazole, (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid, urea and sulfamic acid] are rapidly encapsulated into the pores of MOF NENU-3 while the MOF is formed. The synthesis of a MOF loaded with functional guests that used to take several days and require a multistep procedure can now be completed in one step within several minutes. The proton conductivities of the obtained composites increased by 2-3 orders of magnitude compared with NENU-3.

Purely inorganic frameworks based on polyoxometalate clusters with abundant phosphate groups: single-crystal to single-crystal structural transformation and remarkable proton conduction.

A pure-inorganic framework based on {P4MoV4MoVI2} clusters with rich phosphate groups has been synthesized. It underwent a single crystal to single crystal conversion in air to form a new framework with changes both in the metal valent state and coordination environment. The new framework exhibits an ultra-high proton conductivity of 1.33 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 95 °C and 98% relative humidity and excellent stability.

A polymorphism at the 3'-UTR region of the aromatase gene is associated with the efficacy of the aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole, in metastatic breast carcinoma.

Estrogen-related genes and the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene play a critical role in estrogen metabolism, and those polymorphisms are associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer. However, little is known about the association between these polymorphisms and the efficacy of anastrozole. The aim was to investigate the impact of the genetic polymorphisms, CYP19A1, 17-ß-HSD-1 and FTO, on the response to anastrozole in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) and to evaluate the impact of those polymorphisms on various clinicopathologic features. Two-hundred seventy-two women with hormone receptor-positive MBC treated with anastrozole were identified retrospectively. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and genotyped for five variants in three candidate genes. Time to progression was improved in patients carrying the variant alleles of rs4646 when compared to patients with the wild-type allele (16.40 months versus 13.52 months; p = 0.049). The rs4646 variant alleles were significantly associated with longer overall survival (37.3 months versus 31.6 months; p = 0.007). This relationship was not observed with the rs10046, rs2830, rs9926298 and rs9939609 polymorphisms. The findings of this study indicate that rs4646 polymorphism in the CYP19A1 gene may serve as a prognostic maker of the response to anastrozole in patients with MBC who are treated with anastrozole.

Expression of DOG1, CD117 and PDGFRA in gastrointestinal stromal tumors and correlations with clinicopathology.

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the significance of DOG1, CD117 and PDGFRA in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), and analyze their correlations with clinicopathological features and risk ranking. METHOD: DOG1, CD117 and PDGFRA were detected with IHC Envision ldpe-g-nvp in 63 GISTs and 43 cases of non-GISTs, and analyzed for relations with clinicopathological factors (gender, age, location, tumor size, mitotic phase, histology) and risk degree. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of DOG1, CD117 and PDGFRA in GISTs was 84.1% (53/63), 90.5% (57/63), 53.2% (33/63), respectively. Among the 6 CD117 negative cases, all were DOG1 positive and 5 were PDGFRA positive. Rates in patients with non-GISTs was 11.6%, 16.3%, 6.98%, respectively. Expression of DOG1 and PDGFRA demonstrated no significant variation with gender, age, position, tumor size, mitotic phase, histology, and risk rank. However, CD117 was related with position and histology (P=0.008 and P=0.045), those in the mesentery having a higher positive rate than those derived from stomach, small intestine, colon and rectum (50.0% vs 94.7%, P=0.008). Furthermore CD117 was also highly expressed in spindle and epithele types. CONCLUSIONS: DOG1 had a good sensitivity and specificity as a kind of newly discovered marker, especially for KIT negative GISTs. However, DOG1, CD117 and PDGFRA cannot be used for assessing the rish of patients.

Comparisons of multiple characteristics between young and old lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Risk factors that contribute to younger patients with lung cancer are still relatively unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics, histological types, stages at diagnosis, treatment modalities and survival rates between young and old patients with lung cancer. METHODS: The study was designed as a retrospective review of all lung cancer patients admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from 1998 to 2008. Survival analyses using univariate and multivariate approaches were performed to compare the survival rates between different age groups and to discover potential prognostic factors. RESULTS: This research included 3320 patients with primary lung cancer, of whom 626 (18.8%) were 45 years old or younger at the time of diagnosis. The percentage of smokers and the male to female ratios between the young and old patient groups were 51.27% vs. 70.6% (P < 0.001) and 1.99 vs. 2.13 (P = 0.4801), respectively. The young patient group had a higher incidence of adenocarcinoma and fewer surgeries. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rates in the young patient group were generally lower than those of the old patient group, with significant differences (P = 0.0232). The clinical stage of the tumor was a prognostic factor for both non-small cell lung cancer patients (P < 0.0001) and small cell lung cancer patients (P = 0.0002). Symptoms, diagnostic method, histology, smoking, treatment modality and body mass index were shown to have significant relationships with the survival of lung cancer patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with lung cancer who are younger than 45 years old might have a significantly poorer prognosis than that of older patients. Symptoms, diagnosis method, histology, smoking, treatment modality and body mass index can be independent prognostic factors for lung cancer.