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A novel kind of open‐shelled covalent–organic framework (TPAPL‐COF‐OX) is fabricated based on organic mixed‐valence (MV) systems, which is used for aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) adsorption and activation without the artificial energy consumption. The triphenylamine nucleus endow TPAPL‐COF with an abundance of nitrogen‐active sites. A mild oxidation process on TPAPL‐COF results in the generation of MV structures (TPAPL‐COF‐OX), enhancing its absorption capacity into the NIR‐II region. The nitrogen‐rich TPAPL‐COF‐OX exhibits exceptional adsorption capabilities for VOCs. Its broad light absorption spanning from UV to NIR‐II regions endow it with remarkable photothermal properties, enabling it to attain activation temperatures under sunlight without artificial energy consumption. It is expected that this study may present a novel strategy for managing VOCs by solar‐heating activation with energy‐efficient advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to shape and pattern conductors has been indispensable for manufacturing functional devices. Herein, a series of patterned liquid metals–based flexible electronics are fabricated via magnetic printing. The combination of highly conductive liquid metals and flexible photosensitive resins endows the as‐prepared devices with excellent electrical and mechanical properties, such as high electric conductivity (8 × 104 S m−1), low detection hysteresis, good durability, and environmental stability. What's more, strain‐insensitive flexible electronics can be achieved by designing the structure of liquid metal‐based conductors, and the resistance is only increased 0.13 Ω at 100% strain. Therefore, the as‐prepared liquid metals‐based flexible electronics have promising applications in stretchable conductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy has transtioned into the “new normal”, which demands higher standards for energy utilization efficiency. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution of China's energy consumption and economic development exhibits a significant imbalance, complicating efforts to achieve Pareto optimization of regional energy allocation efficiency. Addressing this issue, this study explores the heterogeneity of the factors influencing energy consumption in China from the dual perspectives of economic “new normal” and geographic space, using an exponential decomposition model. The results of the study show that: (1) the inhibitory effect of the energy intensity effect on the growth of regional energy consumption is differentiated, with stronger inhibitory effects in Guangdong, Jiangsu and other provinces, and weaker inhibitory effects in Hainan, Qinghai, and other provinces. Living standard effect on the regional energy consumption growth of the promotion of the effect also has differences, Jiangsu, Shandong and other provinces of the promotion of the effect is stronger, while Hainan, Qinghai, and other provinces of the promotion of the effect is weaker. (2) Population size effect on regional energy consumption growth is not consistent in the direction of the role of Guangdong, Zhejiang, and other provinces have a promotional effect and the role of the effect of the stronger, on the contrary, the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Gansu has an inhibitory effect. (3) In the late stage of the economic “new normal”, the effects of energy intensity effect, living standard effect and population size effect on the growth of energy consumption in the four regions show a weakening trend, and this weakening trend is more obvious in the northeast region. This study expands theoretical research on factors affecting energy consumption and offers practical guidance for China's government to coordinate regional energy allocation under the economic “new normal” and geographical considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocuring 3D printing of hydrogels, with sophisticated, delicate structures and biocompatibility, attracts significant attention by researchers and possesses promising application in the fields of tissue engineering and flexible devices. After years of development, photocuring 3D printing technologies and hydrogel inks make great progress. Herein, the techniques of photocuring 3D printing of hydrogels, including direct ink writing (DIW), stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), continuous liquid interface production (CLIP), volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM), and two photon polymerization (TPP) are reviewed. Further, the raw materials for hydrogel inks (photocurable polymers, monomers, photoinitiators, and additives) and applications in tissue engineering and flexible devices are also reviewed. At last, the current challenges and future perspectives of photocuring 3D printing of hydrogels are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usually, solid‐state fluorescence quenching is thought to be caused by π–π interaction. Hence, the common design strategies for materials with high‐brightness solid‐state luminescent rely on incorporating molecular rotors to weaken the intermolecular π–π packing. In this work, four types of BAs with the performance of solid‐state fluorescence and without molecular rotors have been synthesized. Among them, B‐4 was found to be a typical AIE compound and had a close cofacial packing mode, while it emitted strongly fluorescence in the solid state. The AIE characteristics of B‐4 was attributed to more electron‐donating groups and extended π‐conjugation. However, the other three BAs showed almost no fluorescence emission due to their more closed face‐to‐face packing mode or less electron‐donating groups. These results indicated that tight stacking mode unnecessarily lead to fluorescence quenching. This study suggests there may be fewer constraints to develop new AIE materials, and there might be a large number of tightly packed AIE molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote stimuli‐responsive movable soft robots without the need for complex 3D deformation processes and specific working environments is an unsolved problem and urgent need. In this work, under the inspiration of mother nature, a novel strategy of simple combination of the bionic bristles structure and the photothermal‐driven reversible shape change liquid crystal polymer (LCP) actuator is proposed to work out this difficulty. The combination structure is designed as unique three parts with two bionic bristle units at the two ends and one LCP unit in the center with a soft connection between them. After matching the driving force and the resistance, the prepared soft robot can realize the earthworm‐like unidirectionally crawl on the paper surface upon near‐infrared light irradiation through the contracting and stretching of LCP with a maximum average speed of 4.4 mm min−1. What's more, the crawling speed of the soft robot can be regulated by varying the irradiation distance of near‐infrared light or the length of the actuators. This strategy realizes the type of remote wireless control soft robot and has potential application ability in other soft robots with various demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After China's economy entered a “new normal,” their economic development model shifted from an energy‐intensive to an energy‐saving, given that China's electricity and heating industry accounts for about half of the country's energy consumption and carbon emissions. Based on the sample data from 2005 to 2020, this paper adopts the energy consumption method and the extended index decomposition model to explore carbon emissions of the electricity and heating industry in the early and late period of the economic new normal. The results show that: (1) carbon emissions from the electricity and heating industry showed a growing direction in the economic new normal period. However, compared with the early period of economic new normal, the increasing speed of carbon emissions from the electricity and heating industry slowed down significantly in the late period. This point also directly reflects that the extensive development mode of energy utilization has been alleviated after the electricity and heating industry entered the economic new normal. (2) Compared with the early period, the energy structure effect on the emission reduction was enhanced after entering the economic new normal. Meanwhile, the investment efficiency effect has changed from promoting to inhibiting. (3) Compared with the early period, the promotion impact of the investment scale effect on carbon emissions in the electricity and heating industry has no significant change after entering the economic new normal. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that the emission reduction impact of the energy intensity effect is weak. This paper not only provides empirical evidence for evaluating the emission reduction effects of the Chinese electricity and heating industry before and after the economic new normal but also shares policy insights for precise emission reduction in the electricity and heating industry in the later stage of the economic new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)‐based hydrogels have attracted great attention and been widely used in biological tissue engineering. With the development of modern medicine, precision medicine requires the customization of medical materials. However, lacking of photocurable functional groups or the performance of rapid phase transition makes PVA‐based hydrogels difficult to be customizable molded through photocuring 3D printing technique. In this research, customizable PVA‐based hydrogels with high performance through 3D photocurable printing and freezing‐thawing (F‐T) process are obtained. The ability of 3D‐printable is endowed by the introduction of polyvinyl alcohol–styrylpyridine (PVA‐SBQ), which can be photo‐crosslinked quickly without photoinitiator. Meanwhile, the tunable mechanical properties are achieved by adjusting the mass ratio of PVA‐SBQ to PVA, and PVA can offer the physical crosslinking points through freezing‐thawing (F‐T) process. The hydrogels with high resolution are prepared by digital light procession 3D printing with the mass ratio 1:1 of PVA‐SBQ to PVA solution. Attributed to the absence of initiator, and no small molecule residues inside the hydrogels, the hydrogels have good biocompatibility and have the potential to be applicated in the field of biological tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocurable organosilicon polyurethane acrylate materials combine the merits of both polyurethane and organosilicon and have become the most widely used class of photocurable resins due to the advantages of easy preparation and performance tunability, but they suffer from serious volume shrinkage and difficult degradation. In this article, an organosilicon polyurethane acrylate prepolymer (SSiPUA) containing disulfide bonds is designed and synthesized. The prepolymer exhibits good ability to photopolymerize and reduce the volume shrinkage. The final double bond conversion (DBC) of the system with SSiPUA reaches 92%, and the volume shrinkage is decreased to 4.9% that is much less than that (13.9%) without SSiPUA. Besides, with the increase of SSiPUA content within a certain range, the hydrophobicity, heat resistance, the tensile strength, and the elongation at break of the photocured films gradually increase. The water contact angle, initial decomposition temperature, the tensile strength, and the elongation at break reach up to 93°, 282 °C, 1.8 MPa, and 576.2%, respectively. However, the glass transition temperature is reduced with the increase of SSiPUA content owing to the excellent flexibility of polysiloxane chain segments. More significantly, the SSiPUA containing disulfide bonds endows the photocured film with good degradation properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A NIR‐II fluorescent probe (Et‐1080) for H2S detection was fabricated based on the intramolecular charge transfer blocking mechanism. The enhanced electron density of the indole donor further drove the Et‐1080′s absorption and emission to the NIR‐II region with a high molar absorption coefficient and acceptable fluorescence quantum yield. The C=N double bond of electron‐deficient indole can react with H2S rapidly via a nucleophilic addition mechanism, resulting in the destruction of conjugated structure and fluorescence quenching of the Et‐1080 molecule. The probe showed high selectivity and sensitivity to H2S, which could realize the rapid detection of H2S in NIR‐II band and showed great potential in the further disease diagnosis associated with H2S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently there is no standard therapy recommended for second‐line treatment for thymic carcinoma. Our study compared multidrug chemotherapy, single‐agent chemotherapy, and PD‐1 inhibitors in patients diagnosed with advanced thymic carcinoma who had previous platinum‐based chemotherapy at the clinic. Methods: The study included patients with thymic carcinoma who failed first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy. Kaplan–Meier methods were applied in the study for estimating the progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) curves. Pearson chi‐square or Fisher's exact chi‐square test was adopted to make comparisons of the objective response rate (ORR) between treatment groups. Cox regression was used for the multivariate analyses in PFS and OS. Results: Among the 92 patients enrolled, multidrug chemotherapy was used in 51 (55.4%) patients for second‐line therapy. Thirty‐six patients (35.9%) received single‐agent chemotherapy, and eight patients (8.7%) underwent PD‐1 inhibitors. The multidrug chemotherapy group showed better efficacy than the other two groups, with an ORR of 35.3% (p = 0.006). The median PFS of multidrug chemotherapy, single‐agent chemotherapy and PD‐1 inhibitors were 5.0 months, 3.0 months, and 4.0 months, respectively (p = 0.008). Patients in the multidrug chemotherapy group also showed an advantage in OS in comparison with the other two treatment groups (p = 0.045), with a median OS of 30.4 months. Multivariate analysis showed that second‐line treatment was independent factor for both PFS (p = 0.035) and OS (p = 0.037). Grade 3–4 AEs were mostly detected in patients receiving multidrug chemotherapy and were primarily hematologic. Treatment‐related mortality was not found in any of the groups. Conclusions: Multidrug chemotherapy had a trend toward a more positive response rate and outcomes in longer survival time than single‐agent chemotherapy and PD‐1 inhibitors. Multidrug chemotherapy is a choice worth considering for second‐line therapy in patients with thymic carcinoma if tolerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, natural polymer‐based electrospun fibers (EFs) with huge specific surface area, good biocompatibility, and biological activity obtained from electrospinning process exhibit tremendous vitality in the field of biomedical areas. Herein, the parameters of electrospinning from two perspectives, polymer solution such as solvent, polymeric relative molecular mass, concentration, viscosity, and conductivity of the solution, and electrospinning process such as spinning voltage, spinning flow rate, needle tip to collector distance, temperature, and humidity are first detailed. Next, the raw materials consisting of polysaccharides such as cellulose, hyaluronic acid, alginate, and chitosan as well as proteins such as collagen, gelatin, silk fibroin, and keratin are summarized. The preparation method and related characteristics of EFs with multistage structures such as porous, core–shell, Janus, bamboo‐like and other structures are introduced. The biomedical applications of these natural polymer‐based EFs mainly including tissue engineering, drug sustained release, wound dressings, and biomedical sensors are systematically recapitulated. Finally, the outlook on natural EFs is further proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soil organic carbon stock that accumulates in soil aggregates as a result of the practice of fertilizer application is important for sustainable agriculture and for mitigating the effects of climate change. In this study, we investigated how the practice of fertilizer application affects the mass of soil aggregates and carbon stocks in surface and subsoil layers in rice paddy soil. We determined the mass and carbon concentration in different size classes of aggregates in soil in the top 40‐cm layer after the long‐term application of different fertilizers. We found that the amount of organic carbon in bulk soil and aggregates decreased with increasing soil depth, except free microaggregates (free‐m, 250–53 µm), which showed the opposite trend. Macroaggregates (>250 µm) were the main type of soil particles in both surface soil and subsoil. Compared with the unfertilized control or chemical fertilizer treatments, manure or straw combined with chemical fertilizers significantly (p < 0.05) increased the mass and carbon concentration in small macroaggregates (2000–250 µm) and small macroaggregate fractions in the surface soil (0–20 cm), whilst the opposite effect was detected for large macroaggregates (>2000 µm) and large macroaggregate fractions. In the top 40‐cm soil layer, the carbon content in small macroaggregates and most small macroaggregate fractions increased linearly with increasing carbon input rate, but that in large macroaggregates and most large macroaggregate fractions decreased. Overall, small macroaggregates were the dominant particle size class harbouring carbon stocks, and the subsoil in this paddy soil has a high potential for carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common bone malignancy without a reliable therapeutic target. Glypican‐3 (GPC3) mutation and upregulation have been detected in multidrug resistant OS, and anti‐GPC3 immunotherapy can effectively suppress the growth of organoids. Further profiling of GPC3 mutations and expression patterns in OS is of clinical significance. To address these issues, fresh OS specimens were collected from 24 patients for cancer‐targeted next‐generation sequencing (NGS) and three‐dimensional patient‐derived organoid (PDO) culture. A tumor microarray was prepared using 37 archived OS specimens. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed on OS specimens and microarrays to profile GPC3 and CD133 expression as well as intratumoral distribution patterns. RT‐PCR was conducted to semiquantify GPC3 and CD133 expression levels in the OS tissues. Anti‐GPC3 immunotherapy was performed on OS organoids with or without GPC3 expression and its efficacy was analyzed using multiple experimental approaches. No OS cases with GPC3 mutations were found, except for the positive control (OS‐08). IHC staining revealed GPC3 expression in 73.77% (45/61) of OSs in weak (+; 29/45), moderate (++; 8/45), and strong (+++; 8/45) immunolabeling densities. The intratumoral distribution of GPC3‐positive cells was variable in the focal (+; 10%–30%; 8/45), partial (++; 31%–70%; 22/45), and the most positive patterns (+++; >71%; 15/45), which coincided with CD133 immunolabeling (P = 9.89 × 10−10). The anti‐GPC3 antibody efficiently inhibits Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and induces apoptosis in GPC3‐positive PDOs and PDXs, as opposed to GPC3‐negative PDOs and PDXs. The high frequency of GPC3 and CD133 co‐expression and the effectiveness of anti‐wild‐type GPC3‐Ab therapy in GPC3‐positive OS models suggest that GPC3 is a novel prognostic parameter and a promising therapeutic target for osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of reliable drugs is a therapeutic challenge of advanced breast cancers (ABCs). Resveratrol (Res) exerts inhibitory effects on breast cancer cell lines and animal models, while its efficacy against individual breast cancer cases remains unknown. This study aims to use ABC‐derived organoids (ABCOs) as the ex vivo therapeutic platform to clarify the effectiveness of resveratrol against different ABC subtypes. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed that the ABCOs maintained their original tumors' ER, PR, HER2, and Ki67 expression patterns. ABCO proliferation and viability tests showed >50% cell death rates in 79.2% (19/24) of Res‐treated, 28.6% (2/7) fulvestrant‐treated, 66.7% (4/6) paclitaxel‐treated, and 66.7% (6/9) gemcitabine‐treated ABCOs. pSTAT3 nuclear translocation was more frequent in Res‐sensitive (17/19; 89.47%) than that (1/5; 20%) of Res‐insensitive ABCOs, which were suppressed upon Res treatment. Statistical analysis revealed a close correlation of STAT3 activation with the efficacy of Res, but not related to tumor receptor expression patterns (ER, PR, HER2) and pathological classification. We demonstrate for the first time the higher efficacy and broader spectrum of Res against different subtypes of ABCOs in comparison with that of conventional antibreast cancer drugs, providing an alternative approach for better management of ABCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A near‐infrared (NIR)‐triggered photo/thermal dual‐responsive composite carrier (UCNPs‐NG‐PDA) was designed and fabricated by the incorporation of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), coumarin‐based photo/thermal‐responsive nanogel (NG) with uniform particle size (193 nm) and polydopamine (PDA) particles. UCNPs‐NG‐PDA has good photothermal conversion capability because of the introduction of PDA. The light and heat dual‐responsiveness of coumarin‐based nanogels markedly enhances the drug release of UCNPs‐NG‐PDA. Under NIR irradiation for only 20 min, the final cumulative release reaches 79.4% and is much higher than that (58.8%) under UV irradiation. More remarkably, the UCNPs‐NG‐PDA exhibits an excellent biocompatibility and has fascinating application prospects in drug delivery fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new kind of small organic NIR‐II fluorophore molecule (ZS‐1010) based on intermolecular charge transfer was developed as a NIR‐II fluorescent probe for trimethylamine (TMA) detection, which is important for the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and diabetes. ZS‐1010 has a strong push–pull electron system composed of electron donor unit and electron acceptor unit, exhibiting strong absorption and emission in the NIR‐II region. When mixed with TMA which possesses strong electron‐donating characteristics, the push–pull system of ZS‐1010 will be affected along with the dipole moment change, leading to the quenching of fluorescence. This is the first example of TMA fluorescent probe in the NIR‐II window showing deep penetration, fast response speed, high selectivity and pH stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, flexible strain sensors have been intensively studied in order to meet the growing demands of detecting multiscale mechanical deformations. However, it remains a big challenge to integrate high stretchability and high sensitivity in a strain sensor simultaneously. In this study, a highly stretchable and sensitive strain sensor is successfully fabricated by constructing ionogel/silver synergistic conductive network. The transmetalation reaction is utilized to transform the copper atoms in the copper/ionogel nanocomposite into more silver atoms with larger radius, which eliminates the interspace among the nanoparticles, and therefore a silver/ionogel nanocomposite with high conductivity is obtained. Owing to the fragility of the conductive network, the obtained nanocomposite possesses high sensitivity. In addition, as the polymer substrate, the conductive ionogel can connect the crack of the silver conductive network during stretching, endowing the nanocomposite with high stretchability. Hence, the obtained strain sensor exhibits a high sensitivity in a wide sensing range and can detect various human activities. Therefore, this strategy can be envisioned as promising strategy for fabricating high‐performance strain sensors and other flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, ionogels‐based flexible/stretchable sensors have been receiving great attention, which greatly promotes the development of artificial flexible electronics. Except transparency, stretchability, stability, self‐healing, and adhesion, the high conductivity of ionogels and high sensitivity as a sensor still are huge challenges. This work proposes a spatial adjustment strategy to improve sensitivity and conductivity through reducing the spatial hinderance without a change in the compound types and ratio. The addition of space pre‐occupier during the preparation of the ionogel reduces the entanglement of polymer chains for better flowability of the polymer network. After removing the solvent from formed ionogels, the obtained free volume could facilitate the movement of ions and mobility of polymers. Through this way, the sensitivity (up to 1.6 times) and conductivity (up to 1.3 times) of ionogels are successfully improved, while maintaining their excellent transparency, stretchability, stability, and electromechanical properties, such as fast response speed and good repeatability. The detecting ability of movements of different parts of the human body is proved. It is worth mentioning that this simple and effective strategy needs no special requirement for chemical structure, so that it has broad applicability in various systems and opens up a new way for the development of flexible sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of fluorine‐containing UV‐curable prepolymers is synthesized to prepare fluorine‐containing lotus‐like biomimetic films through UV nanoimprint lithography technique. Because of the combination of low‐surface energy fluorine element and micro‐nano biomimetic structure, the UV‐cured films exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity and the maximum water contact angle of 172° is obtained. The prepared biomimetic superhydrophobic film is still robust even under dynamic condition; during the water dropping test, the water droplet can bounce ≈10 mm from the surface after dropping from a height of 25 mm. In addition, due to the excellent superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity, the oil can spread rapidly after dropping on the obtained superhydrophobic surface and then highly efficient high oil–water separation ability can be achieved, which provides for high potential application on oil–water separation membranes. Furthermore, the biomimetic superhydrophobic films also show obvious anti‐bioadhesion, the adhered cell number on fluorine‐containing biomimetic surface is just ≈9% (the minimum value) of that on non‐fluorine non‐biomimetic surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a naphthalene‐based macrocycle prism[5]arene (NP5OCH3) is developed as a novel kind of photoinitiator. When NP5OCH3 is irradiated under light, the bond between methylene and naphthalene can be quickly broken owning to the existence of ring tension. The macrocycle is cleaved to linear oligomer biradicals, which can effectively initiate the free radical photopolymerization of acrylate monomers. Compared with conventional photoinitiators, NP5OCH3 has strong light absorption in the wavelength range of 365–405 nm, so it can well match the environment‐friendly light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) light source to realize highly efficient initiation. In addition, there is no small molecule fragment generated during NP5OCH3 fracture, and the resulted linear oligomer biradicals can be immobilized in the polymer after initiating polymerization, so NP5OCH3 photoinitiators show much lower migration rate and cytotoxicity. Cleavable macrocycle prismarene may provide a new idea for the design of safe and efficient photoinitiators matching long wavelength light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by aggressive spread and poor prognosis, but has limited treatment options. Results of prognostic factors from randomized trials on treatment arrangement are conflicting and large‐scale real‐world analysis is lacking. Methods: Patients diagnosed SCLC between 2008 and 2018 in Peking University Cancer Hospital were included in this study. Kaplan–Meier methods were adopted, and univariate analysis and multivariate Cox regression models were constructed to analyze prognostic factors. Results: Among 1045 patients who presented to our center, 988 eligible patients were identified. Median overall survival (OS) was 16.0 months for the whole group, 24.0 months and 11.0 months for limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS‐SCLC) and extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES‐SCLC), separately. Limited‐stage, good performance status (PS) (ECOG 0–1), response to primary systemic treatment, and patients who received initiative irradiation and three or more lines of chemotherapy were predicted to have better OS in the whole group. Only response to first‐line systemic therapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) were independent prognostic factors of survival in LS‐SCLC; while good PS (ECOG 0–1), without liver, bone, or subcutaneous metastases, response to first‐line therapy, initial local irradiation, and three or more lines of systemic therapy predicted a favorable prognosis in ES‐SCLC. Conclusions: The present study retrieved from large real–world data suggested that response to primary systemic therapy and aggressive radiotherapy are independent prognostic factors for SCLC. PCI and initiative irradiation for original or metastatic sites improved the OS in LS‐SCLC and ES‐SCLC, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photosensitive resins with ultralow viscosity suitable for the silicone‐based elastomers by 3D printing were reported. Based on the facile one‐pot strategy which involved photo‐polymerization of hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and sol–gel transition process of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), silicone‐based elastomers with tunable mechanical properties could be obtained by adjusting the ratio of HEA and MTMS as needed. Due to the physically cross‐linked network formed by hydrogen bonds between hydroxyl group of polyhydroxypropyl acrylate (PHEA) and the chemically cross‐linked network formed by MTMS, the stress and strain of printed elastomers reached 3.75 MPa and 205% respectively demonstrating its performance has reached the average level of already reported photo‐curable elastomers. The photosensitive resins with high curing rate and low viscosity are suitable for 3D printing technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this prospective phase II clinical trial was to investigate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Forty‐five patients with relapsed SCLC were enrolled and treated with anlotinib (one cycle of 12 mg daily for 14 days, discontinued for 7 days, and repeated every 21 days) until disease progression or intolerance of treatment. The primary end point was progression‐free survival (PFS). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), disease control rate (DCR), objective control rate (ORR) and toxicity. The median PFS was 4.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.4‐5.8) and the median OS was 6.1 months (95% CI 2.2‐10.0). The OS for the limited‐stage subgroup was significantly longer than that of the extensive‐stage subgroup (P =.02). The DCR was 67%, and the ORR was 11%. The most common adverse event was hypertension (13%), which was controlled well with antihypertensive drugs. In conclusion, anlotinib has likely efficacy in patients with relapsed SCLC, and the side effects can be well tolerated. A longer OS was observed in limited‐stage SCLC patients treated with anlotinib. What's new? Although untreated small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients are usually sensitive to chemotherapy, they are prone to relapse. Anlotinib is a novel multi‐target small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor with both anti‐angiogenesis and anti‐tumor growth effects. While anlotinib became the first drug approved for third‐line and further‐line treatment of SCLC in China, few studies have focused on anlotinib treatment in relapsed SCLC. This one‐arm, prospective phase II clinical study reports a median progression‐free survival of 4.1 months (95% CI 2.4‐5.8) and median overall survival of 6.1 months (95% CI 2.2‐10.0) for anlotinib treatment in relapsed SCLC, with relatively mild side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater pressure sensors with high sensitivity over a broad pressure range are urgently required for the collection of valuable data on pressure changes associated with various wave motions. Here, a class of carbon‐nanotube‐based pressure sensors, which can be directly used in oceans without packaging, is reported. They use salt water as an electrolyte for electrochemically converting mechanical hydraulic energy into electrical energy and generating electrical signals in response to pressure changes in seawater. They can sense wave amplitudes from 1 mm (i.e., 10 Pa) to 30 m, which covers the range of almost all wave motions, and provide high stability during cycling in seawater. Also, they are self‐powered and provide harvested gravimetric energy that is six orders of magnitude higher than that for commercial piezoelectric sensors for frequencies below 2 Hz (the range within most wave motion occurs), which has not been achieved before. These self‐powered sensors operate from 4 to 60 °C and in direct contact with salt water having a wide range of salinities (from 0.1 to 5 mol L−1). Importantly, the unique electrochemical mechanism provides a new pressure sensing strategy to address the challenges in realizing high precision, low‐frequency pressure measurements, and a broad detection range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent integration of light‐sheet microscopy and tissue‐clearing has facilitated an important alternative to conventional histological imaging approaches. However, the in toto cellular mapping of neural circuits throughout an intact mouse brain remains highly challenging, requiring complicated mechanical stitching, and suffering from anisotropic resolution insufficient for high‐quality reconstruction in 3D. Here, the use of a multiangle‐resolved subvoxel selective plane illumination microscope (Mars‐SPIM) is proposed to achieve high‐throughput imaging of whole mouse brain at isotropic cellular resolution. This light‐sheet imaging technique can computationally improve the spatial resolution over six times under a large field of view, eliminating the use of slow tile stitching. Furthermore, it can recover complete structural information of the sample from images subject to thick‐tissue scattering/attenuation. With Mars‐SPIM, a digital atlas of a cleared whole mouse brain (≈7 mm × 9.5 mm × 5 mm) can readily be obtained with an isotropic resolution of ≈2 µm (1 µm voxel) and a short acquisition time of 30 min. It provides an efficient way to implement system‐level cellular analysis, such as the mapping of different neuron populations and tracing of long‐distance neural projections over the entire brain. Mars‐SPIM is thus well suited for high‐throughput cell‐profiling phenotyping of brain and other mammalian organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane commonly used for separation of biobutanol from fermentation broth fails to meet demand owing to its discontinuous and polluting thermal fabrication. Now, an UV‐induced polymerization strategy is proposed to realize the ultrafast and continuous fabrication of the PDMS membrane. UV‐crosslinking of synthesized methacrylate‐functionalized PDMS (MA‐PDMS) is complete within 30 s. The crosslinking rate is three orders of magnitude larger than the conventional thermal crosslinking. The MA‐PDMS membrane shows a versatile potential for liquid and gas separations, especially featuring an excellent pervaporation performance for n‐butanol. Filler aggregation, the major bottleneck for the development of high‐performance mixed matrix membranes (MMMs), is overcome, because the UV polymerization strategy demonstrates a freezing effect towards fillers in polymer, resulting in an extremely high‐loading silicalite‐1/MA‐PDMS MMM with uniform particle distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to use a CO breath test to investigate hemodialysis effects on red blood cell lifespan in patients with chronic kidney disease. A cohort of 17 non‐smoking men with end‐stage kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis via a polysulfone dialysis membrane (as opposed to a traditional cellulose acetate membrane) were subjected to a repeated Levitt's CO breath test to compare red blood cell lifespan before vs. after dialysis. None of the patients showed significant fluctuations in endogenous CO concentration during the dialysis procedure. The mean red blood cell lifespan was 66.0 ± 31.0 days before dialysis and 72.0 ± 26.0 days after dialysis, with no significant difference between the assessment time points (P > 0.05). In conclusion, dialysis using a polysulfone membrane did not appear to disrupt red blood cells or reduce their lifespan in patients with end‐stage kidney disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This real‐world study assessed the efficacy and toxicity of anlotinib as salvage treatment in Chinese patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: The medical records of 81 patients with advanced NSCLC who had failed at least two lines of chemotherapy were retrospectively collected. All patients were administered anlotinib treatment until disease progression or intolerance as a result of adverse events. Survival curves were created using the Kaplan–Meier method. The log‐rank test was used for univariate analysis of progression‐free survival (PFS) between groups. Cox regression was used to estimate the statistically significant factors based on univariate analysis. Results: The median PFS was five months (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.5–6.5). The objective response rate (ORR) was 7% and the disease control rate (DCR) was 84%. The following subgroups of patients had longer PFS (P < 0.05): squamous cell carcinoma, no brain or liver metastases, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0–1, and no previous VEGF‐tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment. The results of Cox regression indicated that an ECOG PS of 0–1 (hazard ratio 0.152, 95% CI 0.057–0.403; P = 0.00) and patients without brain metastases (hazard ratio 0.421, 95% CI 0.195–0.911; P = 0.028) had longer PFS following anlotinib treatment. Conclusion: Anlotinib, which is well tolerated, plays a significant role in the salvage treatment of advanced NSCLC. Patients with advanced NSCLC with an ECOG PS of 0–1 and no brain metastases achieved longer PFS following anlotinib salvage treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) straw is commonly incorporated into paddy soil after harvest, although it is not fully understood how the straw return strategy and its co‐incorporation with legumes affect soil productivity and rice performance. A 5‐yr experiment was conducted in a rice–rice–fallow or rice–rice–Chinese milk vetch (Mv, Astragalus sinicus L.) rotation in South China. Six treatments were included (i) a control with no fertilization and residue return, (ii) 100% of fertilizer recommendation (F100), (iii) 80% of F100 plus conventional return of rice straw (F80Rs), (iv) F80 plus Mv planting and incorporation (F80Mv), (v) co‐incorporation of F80Rs and F80Mv (F80RsMv), (vi) similar to F80RsMv except late rice straw was retained as high stubble (∼35 cm, F80RhMv). The results showed that, under reduced inorganic fertilizer input, grain yields in treatments with straw and/or Mv return were similar with those of F100. However, N uptake in early and late rice markedly increased by 8 to 14% and 30 to 53% in the co‐incorporation treatment F80RsMv compared with F100, respectively, as well as in the F80RhMv treatment for late rice. Significantly greater fertilizer use efficiency was obtained in the co‐incorporation practices. Although negative cumulative effects were observed for soil organic matter, total N, and available N after 5‐yr rotation, the magnitude of decline in the co‐incorporation treatments was much smaller than in others. Soil available P and K were accumulated in co‐incorporation practice, whereas pH was less affected. Overall, the study suggested that the combination of rice straw and leguminous green manure is a promising practice to produce more grain yield with less fertilizer inputs in subtropical double‐rice production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thymoma and thymic carcinoma are rare thymic epithelial tumors. We investigated the efficacy of first‐line gemcitabine and cisplatin (GP) chemotherapy versus gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy combined with the anti‐angiogenic drug endostar (GP + E) in advanced thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Methods: The records of 45 patients with invasive metastatic thymomas or thymic carcinomas treated with GP as first‐line therapy between August 2008 and July 2017 at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Peking University Cancer Hospital and Institute were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Eighteen patients (75%) in the GP + E group achieved a partial response and six (25%) had stable disease. In GP only group, nine (42.8%) patients achieved a partial response, 11 (52.4%) had stable disease, and one (4.8%) had progressive disease. The GP + E group had a significantly higher overall response rate (75% vs. 42.9%; P = 0.028), and median progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of 19 and 76 months, respectively. In the GP only group, median PFS and OS were 16 and 29 months, respectively. PFS and OS were not significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: GP has moderate efficacy and could represent a suitable first‐line therapy for thymic carcinoma and thymoma. Chemotherapy combined with endostar could improve the overall response rate, but did not prolong PFS or OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Patients with advanced nonsquamous nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who experienced progression with two or more lines chemotherapy have no treatment options that clearly confer a survival benefit. As a novel vascular endothelial growth factor receptor‐2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, apatinib has a certain antitumor effect for various solid tumors. The present study evaluated the efficacy and safety of apatinib in advanced nonsquamous NSCLC as salvage treatment in Chinese real‐world practice. Methods: Twenty‐eight patients were enrolled in this observational study from October 2015 to May 2017. Progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were graphed by Kaplan–Meier curve and intergroup comparisons were carried out by log‐rank test. Objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and adverse effects (AEs) were also evaluated. Results: Seven patients obtained partial response, and 18 obtained stable disease, representing an ORR of 26% and a DCR of 93%. Median PFS and OS were 3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6–3.4) and 7.4 (95% CI 1.3–13.5) months, respectively. The efficacy analysis showed that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0–1 was correlated with prolonged OS and PFS (P < 0.05), and hypertension during apatinib treatment was correlated with prolonged OS (P < 0.05). Cox regression showed that ECOG performance status (P < 0.01) (RR = 0.231) (95% CI 0.083‐0.642) and hypertension during apatinib treatment (P = 0.05) were predictive indicators for apatinib treatment. Grade 3–4 AEs with incidences of 10% or greater were hypertension (21%), hand‐foot syndrome (14%) and proteinuria (11%) which could be relieved by dose reduction. Conclusion: In conclusion, apatinib has a certain therapeutic effect in patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. ECOG performance status and hypertension during apatinib might be predictive indicators for treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Two types of cryogels were obtained using 2‐hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) by homogeneous mixing with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as crosslinker at subzero temperature followed by photopolymerization with two different light initiation sources (high‐pressure Hg arc lamp and UV‐LED).The solution was frozen unidirectionally at −60 °C before polymerization and finally photopolymerized at the same temperature. The cryogels were characterized using photo‐DSC, UV–vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The cryogels cured with an LED light showed a higher polymerization rate and better morphological characteristics than ones cured with a high‐pressure Hg arc. The water intake ratio of HEA/PEGDA was higher than HEMA/PEGDA for both curing sources. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46686. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Self-supporting, interconnected, porous inorganic (silicon/carbon) membranes were obtained by the calcination of composite membranes at 900 °C with a porous polymer template obtained by binary-phase solid-state photopolymerization at −60 °C with acrylate monomers followed by chemical vapor deposition. The physicochemical properties of all of the membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the measurement of water contact angles, water uptake, and percentage of porosity. The membranes showed contact angles ranging from 127 to 130 ± 0.5°, which were close to those of superhydrophobicity. The EDS, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and TGA results confirmed the formation of the Si-C composite structure after calcination and an increase in the thermal stability. The polymer and composite membranes were found to be hydrophilic, whereas Si-C was hydrophobic. The poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate derived Si-C membrane showed a good absorption efficiency for tinted toluene from water compared to the others. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45822. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT An inorganic-organic hybrid material, poly(dimethylsilylene ethynylenephenyleneethynylene) (PMSEPE), was synthesized in a mild condition and its microfiber was successfully produced by melt electrospinning. The electrospinning parameters, which affected the morphology and diameter of fibers, were well investigated. To maintain the fiber structure at thermal cured temperature (above melting point), the PMSEPE fibers were enhanced via thiol-yne photo polymerization. Followed by the thermal curing reaction, the heat-resistance and mechanical properties of fibers were enhanced. The mechanism of two-step curing was explored and confirmed by means of Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Thermaogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy results show that after carbonization at 800 °C, the two-step cured fibers had only a small weight loss (20%) and the fibers can still maintain the original morphology. Moreover, the two-step cured fiber exhibited a high tensile strength (55.4 MPa) and a small elongation at break (0.02%). All the results indicate that the fibers could be applied as fiber-reinforced materials. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 2815-2823 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Photopolymerization is extensively used in today's industrial field due to its advantages of rapid reaction, environmental friendly, energy saving and economical. Benzophenone is a most common photoinitiator (PI) using in photopolymerization because of its superior ability to initiate acrylate monomers. However, the intrinsic nature of initiator molecules is that they migrate out of polymer network, which limits its application, especially in the domain of food packaging materials. A polymerizable PI 4-methylbenzophenone acrylate (MBPAc) was synthesized by a facile procedure and characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and MS analyses. A systematic study of the photopolymerization kinetics of MBPAc was explored by the Real-Time Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer. The results show that the final conversion and photopolymerization rate of acrylate monomers are closely related to the factors of their chemical structure, viscosity, functionality and light intensity, which means MBPAc is an efficient PI. Ultraviolet-visible Spectrophotometer and vitro cytotoxicity measurement results indicate that the noncytotoxic MBPAc shows significantly lower migration than its analogue. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 313-320 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT During free radical photopolymerization, with an increasing degree of conversion, the viscosity increased and vitrification occurred. The unreacted double bonds had difficulty diffusing to the reactive site in the vitrifying polymer. However, the free radicals generated in the vitrifying matrix could survive for a long time. Thus, the postcuring process occurred. In this study, free radical photopolymerization kinetics of methacrylate with or without solvent was investigated by real-time FTIR, which was combined with a heating device. Results showed that without solvent, postcuring occurred only by heating at a higher temperature than the glass transition temperature of the polymer. However, with solvent, the postcuring occurred even at room temperature, where only a small amount of solvent was enough to cause postcuring. The lifespan of the free radicals inside the polymer was over 10 h. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44223. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cationic photopolymerization of 3-benzyloxymethyl-3-ethyl-oxetane ( MOX104) initiated by triphenylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate under UV light was conducted. The kinetics were investigated by real-time Fourier transform IR spectroscopy and the mechanical and thermal properties of poly( MOX104) were examined by dynamic mechanical analysis and TGA. To adjust the properties of the polymer, different initiator concentrations and comonomer composition were applied. The results showed that the conversion of MOX104 was improved significantly from 17% to almost 90% by adding a certain amount of 3,4-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate or diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy resin, while not much effect was observed by adding 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether. Moreover, the glass transition temperature, decomposition temperature and Young's modulus of poly( MOX104) were improved by adding different amounts of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy resin. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Core-shell structured PEO-chitosan nanofibers have been produced from electric field inducing phase separation. Chitosan, a positive charged polymer, was dissolved in 50 wt % aqueous acetic acid and the amino group on polycation would protonize, which would endow chitosan electrical properties. Chitosan molecules would move along the direction of the electric field under the electrostatic force and formed the shell layer of nanofibers. Preparation process of core -shell structure is quite simple and efficient without any post-treatment. The core-shell structure and existence of chitosan on the shell layer were confirmed before and after post-treatment by TEM and further supported by SEM, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and XPS studies. Blending ratio of PEO and chitosan, molecular weight of chitosan for the mobility of chitosan are thought to be the key influence factors on formation of core-shell structure. Drug release studies show that the prepared core-shell structure nanofibers has a potential application in the biomedical fields involving drug delivery. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 2298-2311 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The programmed cell death-1/programmed cell death-1 ligand ( PD-1/ PD- L1) pathway plays a crucial role in tumor evasion. This study evaluated the association between circulating PD-L1 expression and clinical characteristics in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC). Methods A total of 109 advanced NSCLC and 65 healthy patients from the Beijng Cancer Hospital were enrolled in the study. Circulating PD- L1 expression was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The associations between the level of PD- L1 expression and clinicopathologic features and prognosis were statistically analyzed. Results The expression of PD- L1 in advanced NSCLC patients was significantly upregulated compared with the healthy control ( P < 0.001). The expression of PD-L1 was significantly correlated with abdominal organ metastasis ( P = 0.004). A high PD- L1 expression had a worse prognosis than a low expression in patients (18.7 vs. 26.8 month, P < 0.001). Conclusions PD- L1 was elevated in advanced NSCLC patients and may play an important role in tumor immune evasion and patient prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pouched Mitral Isthmus and Ablation Block Background Previous studies have described the impact of mitral isthmus (MI) anatomy on the likelihood of achieving MI linear block in patients with native mitral valves (NMV) who underwent atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. However, none have investigated that issue in AF patients with mechanical mitral valve replacements (MMVR). Methods and Results Twenty-nine consecutive patients who developed symptomatic persistent AF post-MMVR and referred for ablation were enrolled. Twenty-nine patients with NMV who underwent ablation of persistent AF during the same period were matched. With preprocedural cardiac computed tomographic imaging, MI anatomical features of all the participants were analyzed. Pouched MI was observed in 19 (65.5%) MMVR patients versus to 6 (20.7%) controls (P = 0.001). Bidirectional linear block across MI was achieved in 21 (72.4%) MMVR patients and 22 (75.9%) in the controls (P = 0.764). In the multivariable analysis, pouched MI was an independent predictor of incomplete MI block. Conclusions Pouched MI accounts for the majority of AF patients with MMVR and may be associated with incomplete bidirectional linear block of MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroporous polymers are of great interest and are used in diverse fields including filtration, catalysts, tissue engineering, and bioseparation. Great efforts have been invested in the manipulation of macroporous polymers. However, the straightforward fabrication of porous polymers with controlled structures from the corresponding monomers remains challenging. This study proposes a general, simple route for the synthesis of macroporous crosslinked polymers with 2D or 3D shape from the corresponding monomers by low temperature phase-separation photopolymerization with no template and no surfactant or other additives. The generality of this approach makes synthesis possible from any type of monomer that can be photopolymerized, thus offering wide tunability of polymer properties for various applications. We believe that this strategy has great potential to be used widely for the fabrication of macroporous polymer membranes or monoliths in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionic liquids are used widely as solvents or electrolytes for electrochemical synthesis and applications due to their wide electrochemical windows, good electrical conductivity, and their excellent solubility to both organic and inorganic compounds. Until now, no papers have reported the use of ionic liquids as initiators in polymerization. In most cases, the kinetics of electro-induced polymerization are studied by gas chromatography (GC), NMR, or the gravimetric method, which are complicated and time consuming. In this paper, the kinetics of electro-induced polymerization of vinyl ethers using ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4) as initiator are investigated by real-time Fourier transform near-IR (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. The results show that the ionic liquid BMIMBF4 is an efficient initiator for electro-induced polymerization of vinyl ethers. The final double-bond conversion and polymerization rate can be adjusted by the electric-field intensity and the concentration of the ionic liquid BMIMBF4. Moreover, the post-curing, as well as the obvious inhibition effects of KOH, indicate that the electro-induced polymerization goes through a cationic process. The possible mechanism is also postulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The unusual amino acid l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA), which was found in mussel adhesive protein, was recognized as crucial element for the adhesive of mussel. In this work, the synthesis of thermoresponsive and photocrosslinkable bioadhesive with ternary networks prepared by incorporating dopamine acrylamide (DAM) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) into a crosslinked network based on poly(ethylene glycol)-triacrylate (PEG-TA) was reported. The effects of DAM and NIPAAm on polymerization kinetics, swelling kinetics, adhesion strength, thermomechanical properties, and cytotoxicity assays were systematically evaluated. The results showed that DAM could affect photopolymerization kinetics of terpolymer due to inhibitory effects of the catechol. The terpolymer has not only strong adhesion strength which was better than that of the commercial fibrin adhesives (0.05 MPa), but also the good humid-resistant property. The thermoresponsive properties of the system were investigated by the measurement of swelling kinetics. The equilibrium swelling ratio of gels was obviously higher at 25°C than at 37°C. The thermomechanical properties of terpolymer indicated that the presence of the catechol moiety increased significantly the glass transition temperature ( Tg) and crosslink density of ternary network. The results of cytotoxicity of gels indicated that terpolymer were biocompatible and less cytotoxicity towards the growth of mouse fibroblast cells (L929 cells). The obtained products could have the potential to serve as the bioadhesive in the future. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41102. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The role of surgery in limited small cell lung cancer ( SCLC) is still controversial. To assess the role of surgery in SCLC we performed a retrospective analysis of survival in a group of limited stage patients, who were managed with trimodal therapy including surgery, or with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Methods We performed a retrospective survival analysis in a series of 153 limited stage SCLC patients treated between 1995 and 2013. Kaplan- Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to calculate the overall survival of the surgical and non-surgical groups. Results Median survival in all patients was 21.5 months. Median survival for surgical and non-surgical patients was 30.5 months and 16.9 months, respectively. The survival curves for the two arms are significantly different ( P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, the benefit of surgical treatment and thoracic radiotherapy varied in a time-dependent fashion. Conclusions Our results suggest that surgery added to chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be associated with a therapeutic benefit in limited SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains a kind of ultraviolet-cured antifogging and antibacterial coating. A quaternary ammonium salt (14QAS), which was synthesized in this paper, has been implemented as a monomer. The chemical structure of 14QAS has been confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. The nitrogen atom on the surface of the coatings with 14QAS was observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Surface wettability of the polymer film was studied by contact angle analysis, which confirmed the hydrophilicity of the coatings with low water contact angle (~25°). The antifog properties were evaluated under different conditions. The antibacterial activity of coatings with 14QAS reached 99.9% against S. aureus and E. coli. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Symptomatic prolonged sinus pauses on termination of atrial fibrillation (AF) are an accepted indication for pacemaker implantation. We evaluated the outcome of AF ablation in patients with paroxysmal AF-related tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome and compared the efficacy of catheter ablation with permanent pacing plus antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs). Methods and Results Patients with prolonged symptomatic sinus pauses on termination of AF were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-three consecutive patients who underwent catheter ablation (ABL group) were compared to 57 patients who underwent permanent pacing plus AADs (PM group). All 43 patients in the ABL group fulfilled Class I indication for pacemaker implantation at baseline but they actually underwent AF ablation. Reevaluation after 20.1 ± 9.6 months of follow-up showed that 41 patients (95.3%) did no longer need a pacemaker (Class III indication). Total cardiac-related rehospitalization was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.921). Tachycardia-related hospitalization was significantly higher in the PM group than the ABL group (14.0% and 0%, P = 0.029). More patients in the PM group were on AADs (PM 40.4%, ABL 4.7%, P < 0.001) while sinus rhythm maintenance was remarkably higher in the ABL group at the end of follow-up (83.7% vs 21.1% in PM group, P < 0.001). Conclusions In patients with paroxysmal AF-related tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome, AF ablation seems to be superior to a strategy of pacing plus AAD. Pacemaker implantation can be waived in the majority of patients after a successful ablation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]