Safety and efficacy of CT-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for non-small cell lung cancer: a single-center, single-arm analysis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a prevalent malignant tumor, and the commonly treatment modalities include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc. Currently, CT-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of cancers has been widely performed. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this therapy in NSCLC patients. Thirty-five NSCLC patients were enrolled in this study and all received CT-guided percutaneous RFA therapy. The outcome measures included the changes in forced respiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), total lung volume (TLC), lesion size and computed tomography (CT) values of the region of interest (ROI) before and after treatment. The main efficacy measures comprised complete tumor ablation and local recurrence after initial treatment, as well as the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) after 6 months of treatment. After receiving CT-guided percutaneous RFA therapy, the target lesion was effectively controlled and CT values gradually decreased. Besides, no significant changes were observed in the patient's lung function, postoperative complications were experienced by a total of 10 patients, primarily including pneumothorax, infection, lung hollowing. Fortunately, all these complications were successfully managed with appropriate treatment. Following the initial RFA treatment, 31 patients (88.57%) achieved complete ablation, while 6 patients experienced local recurrence. After 6 months of treatment, the ORR and DCR were found to be 68.57% and 82.86% respectively. CT-guided percutaneous RFA has demonstrated favorable safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with NSCLC at different stages, which represented a promising therapeutic modality.

[Research progress of signal pathways of microglia activation in sleep disorders].

Sleep is an extremely important physiological state to maintain human life. Sleep disorders can not only cause anxiety and depression, but also induce multi-system diseases that seriously affect brain function and physical health. The neuroinflammation is a key pathological process after sleep disorders, which can induce a series of nervous system diseases. In recent years, the role of microglia activation in neuroinflammation has been paid more and more attention and become a research hotspot in this field. The imbalance of the central microenvironment after sleep disorders leads to changes in the activation and polarization of microglia, which triggers neuroinflammatory response. The activation and polarization of microglia in the sleep disorders are regulated by multiple signaling pathways and complex molecular mechanisms. This paper summarizes five signaling pathways of microglia activation in central inflammation induced by sleep disorders, including P2X7 receptor (P2X7R), p38MAPK, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB, JAK/STAT, and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7-nAChR) pathways, in order to provide reference for further research and clinical treatment targets selection of sleep disorders.

Bergenin alleviates H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in nucleus pulposus cells: Involvement of the PPAR-γ/NF-κB pathway.

Bergenin is a C-glucoside of 4-O-methyl gallic acid with a variety of biological activities, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Herein, we investigated the involvement of bergenin in the protective effect against H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in human nucleus pulposus cells (HNPCs) and the underlying mechanisms. HNPCs were cotreated with various concentrations of bergenin and 200 µM H2 O2 for 24 h. Cell viability was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 and lactate dehydrogenase release assays. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) was evaluated utilizing 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein-diacetate. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities and glutathione (GSH) levels were measured to assess oxidative stress. Apoptosis was evaluated using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling and caspase-3/7 activity assays. Expression of protein was determined by western blotting. Results indicated that treatment with bergenin significantly alleviated H2 O2 -induced viability reduction and ROS overproduction in HNPCs in a dose-dependent manner. Bergenin alleviated H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress in HNPCs by increased activity of superoxide dismutase and level of glutathione peroxidase. H2 O2 -induced apoptosis and activity of caspase-3/7 were also suppressed by bergenin treatment in HNPCs. Western blotting showed that H2 O2 -induced decrease in expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) and increase in nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) were inhibited by bergenin. However, the inhibitory effect of bergenin on H2 O2 -induced viability reduction, oxidative stress and apoptosis were noticeably abrogated in PPAR-γ knockdown HNPCs. In conclusion, our results indicated that bergenin alleviates H2 O2 -induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in HNPCs by activating PPAR-γ and suppressing NF-κB pathway.

Design of Multifunctional Mesosphere-Ionosphere Sounding System and Preliminary Results.

This paper describes a novel sounding system for which the functions of the medium frequency (MF) radar and the ionosonde are integrated on the same hardware platform and antenna structure, namely the middle atmosphere-ionosphere (MAI) system. Unlike the common MF radar, MAI system adopts the pseudo-random (PRN) phase-coded modulation technology, which breaks the limitation of the traditional monopulse mode. Through the pulse compression, only a small peak power is needed to achieve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirement. The excellent anti-jamming performance is also very suitable for the ionospheric sounding. One transmitting and six receiving modes are adopted for the MF sounding. While neglecting the structure of the T/R switches, the coupling interference between the transmitter and the receiver may also be avoided. Moreover, by employing a miniaturized antenna array composed of progressive-wave antennas for the MF receiving and ionospheric sounding, the MAI system takes account of the requirements of the inversion algorithms of MF radar and the large bandwidth need for the ionospheric sounding concurrently. Such an antenna structure can also greatly simplify the system structure and minimize the difficulty of deployment. The experiments verified the availability of the system scheme and its engineering application significance. Through further analysis of the sounding data, the wind field of the mesosphere, the electron density of D layer and electron density profile from layers E to F were obtained at the identical location. The capability of MAI system can play an important role in studying the interaction and coupling mechanism between the mesosphere and ionosphere.

Deoxyfluorination of acyl fluorides to trifluoromethyl compounds by FLUOLEAD®/Olah's reagent under solvent-free conditions.

A new protocol enabling the formation of trifluoromethyl compounds from acyl fluorides has been developed. The combination of FLUOLEAD® and Olah's reagent in solvent-free conditions at 70 °C initiated the significant deoxyfluorination of the acyl fluorides and resulted in the corresponding trifluoromethyl products with high yields (up to 99%). This strategy showed a great tolerance for various acyl fluorides containing aryloyl, (heteroaryl)oyl, or aliphatic acyl moieties, providing good to excellent yields of the trifluoromethyl products. Synthetic drug-like molecules were also transformed into the corresponding trifluoromethyl compounds under the same reaction conditions. A reaction mechanism is proposed.

A Novel Ionospheric Sounding Network Based on Complete Complementary Code and Its Application.

In this paper, complete complementary code (CCC) sequences are applied to a High Frequency (HF) ionospheric sounding network. Ionosondes distributed at multiple locations use the mutually orthogonal CCC sequences to conduct vertical soundings synchronously. At the same time, thanks to the omnidirectional antennas, every station can receive the oblique echoes transmitted from the others. Due to the orthogonality between the code sequences, both vertical and oblique ionograms can be simultaneously obtained and completely separated. Through this method, the sounding efficiency can be enhanced, and the inversion difficulty can be reduced. Further, by using the data assimilation method, vertical and oblique sounding results can be combined to obtain a wide range of regional ionospheric characteristics. To verify the performance of this kind of sounding network, validation experiments are implemented to demonstrate that vertical and oblique ionograms can be obtained independently at the same time and inverted separately and that the maps of foF2 parameters obtained by using the data assimilation method provide more details than single vertical or oblique sounding.

Enantioselective Benzylation and Allylation of α-Trifluoromethoxy Indanones under Phase-Transfer Catalysis.

The organo-catalyzed enantioselective benzylation reaction of α-trifluoromethoxy indanones afforded α-benzyl-α-trifluoromethoxy indanones with a tetrasubstituted stereogenic carbon center in excellent yield with moderate enantioselectivity (up to 57% ee). Cinchona alkaloid-based chiral phase transfer catalysts were found to be effective for this transformation, and both enantiomers of α-benzyl-α-trifluoromethoxy indanones were accessed, depended on the use of cinchonidine and cinchonine-derived catalyst. The method was extended to the enantioselective allylation reaction of α-trifluoromethoxy indanones to give the allylation products in moderate yield with good enantioselectivity (up to 76% ee).

Application of Biphase Complete Complementary Code for Ionospheric Sounding.

This paper illustrates the processes carried out for the application of biphase complete complementary code (CCC) for ionospheric sounding to address the coherent interference problem in multi-station ionospheric sounding. An algorithm to generate the biphase CCC is described, and the detailed process of waveform construction and signal processing is presented. Characteristics of the autocorrelation and cross-correlation are analyzed through simulations, and the technical feasibility of the application of CCC is explored. Experiments of ionospheric sounding with the CCC are also implemented to verify performance. Results demonstrate that the CCC performs well in multi-station ionospheric sounding, and is capable of eliminating the coherent interference in the network of ionosondes, compared to the conventional complementary code.

Wuhan Ionospheric Oblique Backscattering Sounding System and Its Applications-A Review.

For decades, high-frequency (HF) radar has played an important role in sensing the Earth's environment. Advances in radar technology are providing opportunities to significantly improve the performance of HF radar, and to introduce more applications. This paper presents a low-power, small-size, and multifunctional HF radar developed by the Ionospheric Laboratory of Wuhan University, referred to as the Wuhan Ionospheric Oblique Backscattering Sounding System (WIOBSS). Progress in the development of this radar is described in detail, including the basic principles of operation, the system configuration, the sounding waveforms, and the signal and data processing methods. Furthermore, its various remote sensing applications are briefly reviewed to show the good performance of this radar. Finally, some suggested solutions are given for further improvement of its performance.

[Effect of electro-acupuncture on metabolites in the cerebral cortex of ulcerative colitis rats based on Pi/Wei-brain related theory].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) at points along Foot Yangming Channel on metabolite of ulcerative colitis (UC) rats' cerebral cortex and to identify key metabolites by referring to Pi/Wei-brain related theory in Chinese medicine (CM). METHODS: The UC rat model was set up by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) method. Male SD rats were randomly divided into the model group and the EA group, 13 in each group. Another 13 rats were recruited as the blank control group. Rats in the blank control group and the model group received no EA. EA was performed at Zusanli (ST36), Shangjuxu (ST37), and Tianshu (ST25) for 5 days by using disperse-dense wave. Then all rats were sacrificed. Their recto-colon and the ileocecal junction were pathomorphologically observed by light microscope and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Cerebral cortexes were extracted. Water-soluble and lipid-soluble brain tissue metabolites were respectively extracted for metabolic research using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). RESULTS: EA could obviously improve the general condition of UC model rats, decrease the value of DAI, reduce the infiltration of inflammatory cells in the intestinal tract, stabilize structures such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and so on (P <0.05). 1HNMR analysis showed that in the model group, contents of glutamic acid, cholesterol, very low density lipoproein (VLDL) in the pallium obviously decreased, while alanine and low density lipoprotein (LDL) significantly increased. After EA, levels of lactic acid, glutamic acid, total cholesterol (TC), and VLDL all increased, and levels of alanine and LDL decreased. All indices were approximate to those of the blank control group. CONCLUSION: EA at Foot Yangming channel was found to have some effect on metabolites in the brain tissue of UC model rats, which had specific metabonomic material basis and mechanism based on the Pi/Wei-brain related theory.

Acupuncture in circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders and its potential neurochemical mechanisms.

Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWDs) are becoming increasingly common in modern societies due to lifestyle changes. The detrimental effects of CRSWDs on sleep and psychological health have attracted considerable attention recently. Alternative remedies for the treatment of CRSWDs have also gained attention in recent years owing to the limitations of medications. Several in vivo and clinical investigations have shown that acupuncture, one of the most important components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been shown to modulate sleep-related circadian rhythms. Owing to the lack of research on the mechanism and effectiveness of acupuncture in treating CRSWDs, clinical applications of acupuncture have not gained popularity. This paper reviews the acupuncture methods, acupoint selection, and biochemical indicators supplied by in vivo and clinical studies to explore the effectiveness of acupuncture, and summarizes the circadian rhythm mechanisms and the acupuncture characteristics on circadian rhythm. The neurochemical mechanisms linked to acupuncture in treating CRSWDs are also outlined from the perspective of the central and peripheral biological clocks. Lastly, the inadequacy of previous studies on CRSWDs and conflicting results regarding acupuncture are explored and future research directions are envisioned.

A silylboronate-mediated strategy for cross-coupling of alkyl fluorides with aryl alkanes: mechanistic insights and scope expansion.

The construction of C(sp3)-C(sp3) bonds is pivotal in organic synthesis; however, traditional methods involving alkyl halides are often limited by substrate tolerance and bond dissociation energies, particularly with alkyl fluorides. Herein, we report a silylboronate-mediated cross-coupling strategy that circumvents these challenges, enabling the efficient formation of C(sp3)-C(sp3) bonds between alkyl fluorides and aryl alkanes under mild conditions. Various alkyl fluorides have also been effectively utilized, demonstrating the versatility and broad applicability of this approach. The use of diglyme is critical for this transformation which encapsulates potassium cations and enhances the reaction efficiency. Conventional alkyl halides, including chlorides, bromides, and iodides, are also suitable for this transformation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted on the silylboronate-mediated coupling reactions for the first time. Interestingly, while experimental results suggest a radical mechanism, DFT calculations indicate a preference for an ionic pathway.

Cross-coupling of organic fluorides with allenes: a silyl-radical-relay pathway for the construction of α-alkynyl-substituted all-carbon quaternary centres.

Controlling the transformation of versatile and reactive allenes is a considerable challenge. Herein, we report an efficient silylboronate-mediated cross-coupling reaction of organic fluorides with allenes to construct a series of sterically demanding α-ethynyl-containing all-carbon quaternary centers (ACQCs), using catalyst-free silyl-radical-relay reactions to selectively functionalize highly inert C-F bonds in organic fluorides. The key to the success of this transformation lies in the radical rearrangement of an in situ-generated allenyl radical to form a bulky tertiary propargyl radical; however, the transformation does not show efficiency when using the propargyl isomer directly. This unique reaction enables the cross-coupling of a tertiary carbon radical center with a C(sp2)-F bond or a benzylic C(sp3)-F bond. α-Ethynyl-containing ACQCs with (hetero)aromatic substituents and benzyl were efficiently synthesized in a single step using electronically and sterically diverse organic fluorides and allenes. The practical utility of this protocol is showcased by the late-stage functionalization of bioactive molecules and the modification of a liquid crystalline material.

Ultrasound Nanobubble Coupling Agent for Effective Noninvasive Deep-Layer Drug Delivery.

Conventional coupling agents (such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, methylcellulose, and polyurethane) are unable to efficiently transport drugs through the skin's dual barriers (the epidermal cuticle barrier and the basement membrane barrier between the epidermis and dermis) when exposed to ultrasound, hindering deep and noninvasive transdermal drug delivery. In this study, nanobubbles prepared by the double emulsification method and aminated hyaluronic acid are crosslinked with aldehyde-based hyaluronic acid by dynamic covalent bonding through the Schiff base reaction to produce an innovative ultrasound-nanobubble coupling agent. By amplifying the cavitation effect of ultrasound, drugs can be efficiently transferred through the double barrier of the skin and delivered to deep layers. In an in vitro model of isolated porcine skin, this agent achieves an effective penetration depth of 728 µm with the parameters of ultrasound set at 2 W, 650 kHz, and 50% duty cycle for 20 min. Consequently, drugs can be efficiently delivered to deeper layers noninvasively. In summary, this ultrasound nanobubble coupling agent efficiently achieves deep-layer drug delivery by amplifying the ultrasonic cavitation effect and penetrating the double barriers, heralding a new era for noninvasive drug delivery platforms and disease treatment.

Vat Photopolymerization of Sepiolite Fiber and 316L Stainless Steel-Reinforced Alumina with Functionally Graded Structures.

Alumina (Al2O3) ceramics are widely used in electronics, machinery, healthcare, and other fields due to their excellent hardness and high temperature stability. However, their high brittleness limits further applications, such as artificial ceramic implants and highly flexible protective gear. To address the limitations of single-phase toughening in Al2O3 ceramics, some researchers have introduced a second phase to enhance these ceramics. However, introducing a single phase still limits the range of performance improvement. Therefore, this study explores the printing of Al2O3 ceramics by adding two different phases. Additionally, a new gradient printing technique is proposed to overcome the limitations of single material homogeneity, such as uniform performance and the presence of large residual stresses. Unlike traditional vat photopolymerization printing technology, this study stands out by generating green bodies with varying second-phase particle ratios across different layers. This study investigated the effects of different contents of sepiolite fiber (SF) and 316L stainless steel (SS) on various aspects of microstructure, phase composition, physical properties, and mechanical properties of gradient-printed Al2O3. The experimental results demonstrate that compared to Al2O3 parts without added SF and 316L SS, the inclusion of these materials can significantly reduce porosity and water absorption, resulting in a denser structure. In addition, the substantial improvements, with an increase of 394.4% in flexural strength and an increase of 316.7% in toughness, of the Al2O3 components enhanced by incorporating SF and 316L SS have been obtained.

Vat Photopolymerization of Ceramic Parts: Effects of Carbon Fiber Additives on Microstructure and Mechanical Performance.

Vat photopolymerization (VPP), as an additive manufacturing (AM) technology, can conveniently produce ceramic parts with high resolution and excellent surface quality. However, due to the inherent brittleness and low toughness of ceramic materials, manufacturing defect-free ceramic parts remains a challenge. Many researchers have attempted to use carbon fibers as additives to enhance the performance of ceramic parts, but these methods are mostly applied in processes like fused deposition modeling and hot pressing. To date, no one has applied them to VPP-based AM technology. This is mainly because the black carbon fibers reduce laser penetration, making it difficult to cure the ceramic slurry and thus challenging to produce qualified ceramic parts. To address this issue, our study has strictly controlled the amount of carbon fibers by incorporating trace amounts of carbon fiber powder into the original ceramic slurry with the aim to investigate the impact of these additions on the performance of ceramic parts. In this study, ceramic slurries with three different carbon fiber contents (0 wt.%, 0.1 wt.%, 0.2 wt.%, and 0.3 wt.%) were used for additive manufacturing. A detailed comparative analysis of the microstructure, physical properties, and mechanical performance of the parts was conducted. The experimental results indicate that the 3D-printed alumina parts with added carbon fibers show varying degrees of improvement in multiple performance parameters. Notably, the samples prepared with 0.2 wt.% carbon fiber content exhibited the most significant performance enhancements.

Chemometrics combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the identification of Baijiu vintage.

The identification of baijiu vintage is crucial for quality assessment and economic value determination. However, its complex composition and multifaceted influences pose significant technical challenges, necessitating research into its aging mechanisms and the development of related identification methods. This study utilized Chemometrics in conjunction with GC × GC-TOFMS for Baijiu Vintage identification. Data compression achieved a reduction of over 1000-fold without compromising key information, enabling analysis on many samples and get their changing regular in a big matrix by MCR. Subsequently, MCR-ALS facilitated the extraction of physical and chemical meaningful information related to baijiu vintage. Key MCR principal components suitable for qualitative and quantitative assessments were selected using CARS-PLS. The regression model demonstrated errors of less than one year. Furthermore, a PLS-DA model provided 30 MCR principal components as potential markers. The research results provide technical support for baijiu vintage identification and lay the groundwork for studying the changing patterns of flavor compounds in baijiu.

Transition-metal-free silylboronate-mediated cross-couplings of organic fluorides with amines.

C-N bond cross-couplings are fundamental in the field of organic chemistry. Herein, silylboronate-mediated selective defluorinative cross-coupling of organic fluorides with secondary amines via a transition-metal-free strategy is disclosed. The cooperation of silylboronate and potassium tert-butoxide enables the room-temperature cross-coupling of C-F and N-H bonds, effectively avoiding the high barriers associated with thermally induced SN2 or SN1 amination. The significant advantage of this transformation is the selective activation of the C-F bond of the organic fluoride by silylboronate without affecting potentially cleavable C-O, C-Cl, heteroaryl C-H, or C-N bonds and CF3 groups. Tertiary amines with aromatic, heteroaromatic, and/or aliphatic groups were efficiently synthesized in a single step using electronically and sterically varying organic fluorides and N-alkylanilines or secondary amines. The protocol is extended to the late-stage syntheses of drug candidates, including their deuterium-labeled analogs.

Piecewise Developable Modeling Via Implicit Neural Deformation and Feature-Guided Cutting.

We propose a novel and automatic method to model shapes using a small set of discrete developable patches. Central to our approach is using implicit neural shape representation that makes our algorithm independent of tessellation and allows us to obtain the Gaussian curvature of each point analytically. With this powerful representation, we first deform the input shape to be an almost developable shape with clear and sparse salient feature curves. Then, we convert the deformed implicit field to a triangle mesh, which is further cut to disk topology along parts of the sparse feature curves. Finally, we achieve the resulting piecewise developable mesh by alternatingly optimizing discrete developability, enforcing manufacturability constraints, and merging patches. The feasibility and practicability of our method are demonstrated over various shapes. Compared to the state-of-the-art methods, our method achieves a better tradeoff between the number of developable patches and the approximation error.

Synthesis of triarylmethanes by silyl radical-mediated cross-coupling of aryl fluorides and arylmethanes.

Although the cross-couplings of aryl halides with diarylmethanes are mostly achieved by transition-metal catalysis, aryl fluorides are rarely used as coupling partners owing to the high inertness of C-F bonds. Herein, we describe the efficient silylboronate-mediated cross-coupling reaction of aryl fluorides with arylalkanes under transition-metal-free, room-temperature conditions. The combination of silylboronate and KO t Bu is critical for driving a radical process via the cleavage of C-F and C-H bonds in two appropriate coupling precursors, resulting in a cross-coupling product. This practical cross-coupling protocol is applicable to a wide variety of aryl fluorides with a C(sp2)-F bond. This method can be extended to other coupling partners with a C(sp3)-H bond, including diarylmethanes, diarylethanes, and monoarylalkanes. Many di- and triarylalkanes with tertiary or quaternary carbon centers can be obtained easily in moderate to high yields. We believe that the developed silylboronate-mediated cross-coupling method is a valuable contribution to C-F and C-H activation chemistry.