Stress-driven structural and bond reconstruction in 2D ferromagnetic semiconductor VSe2.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides can be used to make high-performance electronic, spintronic, and optoelectronic devices. Recently, room-temperature ferromagnetism and semiconduction in 2D VSe2nanoflakes were attributed to the stable 2H-phase of VSe2in the 2D limit. Here, our first-principles investigation shows that a metastable semiconducting H' phase can be formed from the H VSe2 monolayer through uniaxial stress or uniaxial strain. The calculated phonon spectra indicate the dynamical stability of the metastable H' VSe2and the path of phase switching between the H and H' VSe2phases is calculated. For the uniaxial stress (or strain) scheme, the H' phase can become lower in total energy than the H phase at a transition point. The H' phase has stronger ferromagnetism and its Curier temperature can be enhanced by applying uniaxial stress or strain. Applying uniaxial stress or strain can substantially change spin-resolved electronic structures, energy band edges, and effective carrier masses for both of the H and H' phases, and can cause some flat bands near the band edges in the strained H' phase. Further analysis indicates that one of the Se-Se bonds in the H' phase can be shortened by 19% and the related Se-V-Se bond angles are reduced by 23% with respect to those of the H phase, which is believed to increase the Se-Se covalence feature and reduce the valence of the nearby V atoms. Therefore, structural and bond reconstruction can be realized by applying uniaxial stress in such 2D ferromagnetic semiconductors for potential spintronic and optoelectronic applications.

Clinical Effectiveness and Safety of Chinese Herbal Medicine Compound Kushen Injection as an Add-On Treatment for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the effect and safety of compound Kushen injection (CKI) as an add-on treatment on the treatment for breast cancer. METHODS: We searched eight major electronic databases from their inception to November 1, 2021, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing CKI plus chemotherapy with chemotherapy alone. Primary outcomes included objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes included adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and tumor marker level. We used Cochrane's RevMan 5.3 for data analysis. The GRADEpro was used to appraise the certainty of evidence. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was applied to estimate the required sample size in a meta-analysis and test the robustness of the current results. RESULTS: Thirty RCTs with 2556 participants were totally included. CKI plus chemotherapy showed significant effects in increasing ORR (RR 1.30, 95%CI [1.18, 1.43], I 2 = 27%, n = 1694), increasing DCR (RR 1.21, 95%CI [1.15, 1.28], I 2 = 16%, n = 1627), increasing HRQol as measured by Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score improvement rate (RR 1.42, 95% CI [1.26, 1.61], I 2 = 37%, n = 1172), increasing the PFS (MD 2.24 months, 95%CI [1.26, 3.22], n = 94) and the OS (MD 2.24 months, 95%CI [1.45, 3.43], n = 94), compared to chemotherapy alone. The results showed that CKI plus chemotherapy had a lower risk of ADRs than that of chemotherapy alone group. The certainty of evidence of the included trials was generally low to very low. TSA for ORR and KPS score improvement rate demonstrated that the current results reached a sufficient power regarding both numbers of trials and participants. CONCLUSIONS: Low certainty of evidence suggested that the combination of CKI and conventional chemotherapy appeared to improve ORR, DCR, and KPS score in breast cancer patients. Conclusions about PFS and OS could not be drawn due to lack of evidence. Additionally, CKI appeared to relieve the risk of ADRs in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapies. However, due to weak evidence, the findings should be further confirmed in large and rigorous trials.

Risk factors for lactation mastitis in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Lactation mastitis (LM) affects approximately 3% to 33% of postpartum women and the risk factors of LM have been extensively studied. However, some results in the literature reports are still not conclusive due to the complexity of LM etiology and variation in the populations. To provide nationally representative evidence of the well-accepted risk factors for LM in China, this study was aimed to systematically summary the risk factors for LM among Chinese women and to determine the effect size of individual risk factor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six major Chinses and English electronic literature databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan fang Database and China Science Technology Journal Database) were searched from their inception to December 5st, 2020. Two authors extracted data and assessed the quality of included trials, independently. The strength of the association was summarized using the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The population attributable risk (PAR) percent was calculated for significant risk factors. RESULTS: Fourteen studies involving 8032 participants were included. A total of 18 potential risk factors were eventually evaluated. Significant risk factors for LM included improper milking method (OR 6.79, 95%CI 3.45-13.34; PAR 59.14%), repeated milk stasis (OR 6.23, 95%CI 4.17-9.30; PAR 49.75%), the first six months postpartum (OR 5.11, 95%CI 2.66-9.82; PAR 65.93%), postpartum rest time less than 3 months (OR 4.71, 95%CI 3.92-5.65; PAR 56.95%), abnormal nipple or crater nipple (OR 3.94, 95%CI 2.34-6.63; PAR 42.05%), breast trauma (OR 3.07, 95%CI 2.17-4.33; PAR 15.98%), improper breastfeeding posture (OR 2.47, 95%CI 2.09-2.92; PAR 26.52%), postpartum prone sleeping position (OR 2.46, 95%CI 1.58-3.84; PAR 17.42%), little or no nipple cleaning (OR 2.05, 95%CI 1.58-2.65; PAR 24.73%), primipara (OR 1.73, 95%CI 1.25-2.41; PAR 32.62%), low education level (OR 1.63, 95%CI 1.09-2.43; PAR 23.29%), cesarean section (OR 1.51, 95%CI 1.26-1.81; PAR 18.61%), breast massage experience of non-medical staff (OR 1.51, 95%CI 1.25-1.82; PAR 15.31%) and postpartum mood disorders (OR 1.47, 95%CI 1.06-2.02; PAR 21.27%). CONCLUSIONS: This review specified several important risk factors for LM in China. In particular, the incidence of LM can be reduced by controlling some of the modifiable risk factors such as improper breastfeeding posture, improper milking method, repeated milk stasis, nipple cleaning, breast massage experience of non-medical staff and postpartum sleeping posture.

Chinese herbal medicine (Rupi Sanjie capsule) for the treatment of breast pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Breast pain is one of the most common breast disorders, affecting 41%-69% women in the clinical populations. Chinese herbal medicine (Rupi Sanjie, RPSJ) capsule has been recommended to be commonly used for breast pain in China. This review aimed to systematically collect latest evidence and critically evaluate the eff ;ectiveness and safety of RPSJ capsule for breast pain. METHODS: We searched 6 databases from their inception to June 1, 2020 for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing RPSJ capsule with conventional drug therapies, placebo or no treatment. Primary outcomes were breast pain relief, reduction of breast mass and clinical cure rate. RESULTS: Seventeen RCTs were included in total, involving 2899 participants with breast pain. RPSJ capsule showed a significant effects in shortening duration of the breast pain (MD-6.51 days, 95%CI [-8.57, -4.45], n = 82, 1 trial), shortening the duration of breast mass (MD-5.17 days, 95%CI [-7.56, -2.78], n = 82, 1 trial), improving clinical cure rate (RR 1.55, 95% CI [1.21, 2.00], I² = 64%, n = 1398, 10 trials) and total effective rate (RR 1.08, 95% CI [1.03, 1.14], I² = 71%, n = 2170, 14 trials) compared to Tamoxifen (TAM). The meta-analysis showed that the incidence of total adverse events was higher in TAM group than the RPSJ capsule group (RR 0.30, 95%CI [0.21, 0.42], I² = 49%, n = 2122, 13 trials). CONCLUSIONS: RPSJ capsule appears to be a potentially effective in treating breast pain and seems generally safe for clinical application. However, this potential benefit is inconclusive due to generally weak evidence, and the findings should be further confirmed in large and rigorous trials.