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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a honeycomb arrangement were designed onto graphene as the electrochemical electrodes. The honeycomb arrangement provided a relatively larger surface area to store more ions with a stronger structure to maintain long-term surface morphology. The combination of CNTs and graphene exhibited robust durability during electrochemical performance. The pseudo-capacitive property of IrO 2 was coated onto the CNT surface to enhance the capacitance. Cyclic voltammetry and charging–discharging measurements were used to examine the electrochemical behaviors. The CNTs/graphene and IrO 2 /CNTs/graphene capacitances were 3.93 and 129.40 F/g, respectively. The designed electrode demonstrates excellent characteristics and is appropriate for electrochemical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Graphene was grown on Cu foil by mobile thermal chemical vapor deposition system. [•] CNT was synthesized on graphene for RuO2 nanostructure growth by thermal chemical vapor deposition system. [•] The CNT growth location was fixed through the use of photolithography technique, thereby increasing the specific area. [•] RuO2 nanostructures were coated onto CNT bundle arrays through metal organic chemical vapor deposition, in order to utilize its pseudo capacitive property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the effects of adjuvant chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients with persistently detectable plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA (pEBV DNA) after curative radiation therapy plus induction/concurrent chemotherapy. Methods and Materials: The study population consisted of 625 NPC patients with available pEBV DNA levels before and after treatment. Eighty-five patients with persistently detectable pEBV DNA after 1 week of completing radiation therapy were eligible for this retrospective study. Of the 85 patients, 33 were administered adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of oral tegafur-uracil (2 capsules twice daily) for 12 months with (n=4) or without (n=29) preceding intravenous chemotherapy of mitomycin-C, epirubicin, and cisplatin. The remaining 52 patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy served as the control group. Results: Baseline patient characteristics at diagnosis (age, sex, pathologic type, performance status, T classification, N classification, and overall stage), as well as previous treatment modality, were comparable in both arms. After a median follow-up of 70 months for surviving patients, 45.5% (15 of 33 patients) with adjuvant chemotherapy and 71.2% (37 of 52 patients) without adjuvant chemotherapy experienced tumor relapses (P=.0323). There were a significant reduction in distant failure (P=.0034) but not in local or regional recurrence. The 5-year overall survival rate was 71.6% for patients with adjuvant chemotherapy and 28.7% for patients without adjuvant chemotherapy (hazard ratio 0.27; 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.55; P<.0001). Conclusions: Our retrospective data showed that adjuvant chemotherapy can reduce distant failure and improve overall survival in NPC patients with persistently detectable pEBV DNA after curative radiation therapy plus induction/concurrent chemotherapy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: We investigated the effect of retropharyngeal nodal volumes (RNV) on distant metastasis in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). From February 2000 to June 2006, a total of 181 patients with biopsy-proven NPC, no distant metastasis, and available pre-treatment magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were retrospectively reviewed. Most of the patients (95.6%) had stage III/IV diseases. The contour of retropharyngeal nodes ⩾5mm was delineated on the axial slides of pre-treatment T2-weighted MRI without contrast enhancement. The RNV was calculated by the Eclipse™ treatment planning software. The primary end-points were subsequent distant failure rates and distant metastasis failure-free survival (DMFFS). The pre-treatment RNV in patients who developed distant failure was higher than in those without distant failure (P =0.0536). The distant failure rates between the patients with RNV > and ⩽4.68cm3 were 33.3% and 16.0%, respectively (P =0.0112). The rates of 7-year DMFFS in patients with RNV > and ⩽4.68cm3 were 66.4% and 83.5%, respectively (P =0.0043). Multivariate Cox analysis showed N-stage (P <0.001), gender (P =0.026), and RNV (P =0.088) were important predictors for DMFFS. We conclude that the RNV measured by MRI is a potential predictor of distant metastasis in patients with advanced NPC. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]