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Background: Renal angiomyolipoma (AML) without local invasion is generally considered benign. However, it may extend to the renal sinus, even the renal vein, or the inferior vena cava (IVC). In patients with non-tuberous sclerosis complex, coexistence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and renal AML is uncommon. Case presentation: A 72-year-old woman was incidentally found to have a solitary right renal mass with an IVC thrombus extending into the right atrium during a routine health checkup. Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy were successfully performed through adequate preoperative examination and preparation. Two tumor lesions were found and pathologically confirmed as renal AML and RCC, and the tumor thrombus was derived from the renal AML. During the one-year follow-up period, no signs of recurrence or metastatic disease were observed. Conclusions: Renal AML with a tumor thrombus in the IVC and right atrium accompanied by RCC may occur, although rarely. In clinical practice, if preoperative manifestations differ from those of common diseases, rare diseases must be considered to avoid missed diagnoses. In addition, adequate examination and multidisciplinary discussions before making a diagnosis are necessary. For a level 4 tumor thrombus with no infringement of the venous wall, adoption of robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, without extracorporeal circulation technology, is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Si, Fe and Zr elements on the high temperature properties and microstructure of ultrathin 3003mod aluminum alloy fins were studied by means of high-temperature tensile tests, sagging tests and microstructure analyses. The results show that the alloying of Si, Fe, and Zr elements formed a large amount of nano-scale α-Al(Mn,Fe) Si and Al3Zr particles, and significantly reduced the number of micro-scale coarse Al6(Mn,Fe) particles in the 3003mod aluminum alloy, exhibiting 5 to 10 MPa higher strength and better sagging resistance than 3003 aluminum alloy at the same temperature. The variations in properties such as high-temperature mechanical properties, sagging resistance and elongation below 400 °C were ascribed to the high-stability nanoparticles effectively preventing recovery and grain boundary migration, as well as reducing the nucleation cores of recrystallization. The nanoparticles in 3003mod aluminum alloy were coarsened significantly at 500 °C, and the grains were completely recrystallized and coarsened, resulted in a significant decrease in strength, sagging resistance and elongation compared with these at 400 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coarse particles in Cu-0.39Cr-0.24Zr-0.12Ni-0.027Si alloy were studied with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Three types of coarse particles were determined: a needle-like Cu5Zr intermetallic phase, a nearly spherical Cr9.1Si0.9 intermetallic phase and (Cu, Cr, Zr, Ni, Si)-rich lath complex particles. The crystallographic orientation relationships of the needle-like and nearly spherical coarse particles were also determined. The reasons for formation and the role of the coarse phases in Cu-Cr-Zr alloys are discussed, and some suggestions are proposed to control the coarse phases in the alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semiconducting polymer (SP) is a promising photothermal agent in the antitumor application, but the co-delivery of the second near-infrared window (NIR-II)-based SPs with chemotherapeutic drug (e.g., doxorubicin (DOX)) remains a challenge. Here, SPs were firstly improved via backbone and alkyl side-chain engineering, and afterward, SPs and pH-sensitive prodrug copolymer self-assembled into a nanoparticle for a photoacoustic (PA)-imaging guided combination of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy. SP-encapsulated nanoparticles exhibited a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 45% at a relatively low power level of NIR irradiation (0.3 W/cm2 for 5 min). DOX was rapidly released in response to the acidic lysosomal environment. PA and fluorescence imaging confirmed that the photothermal therapy effectively drove DOX penetration inside tumor tissue, and it resulted in the killing of the surviving tumor cells from hyperthermia. The synergistic effect of SP-based photothermal therapy and DOX-induced chemotherapy was verified in vivo. Overall, the co-delivery of the SP and DOX using pH-sensitive nanoparticles represents a feasible strategy for photothermal therapy with potentially synergistic drug effects. Recent years have yielded great progress in semiconducting polymers (SPs)-based photothermal therapy for anticancer treatment. However, studies about molecular weight and side-chain of SPs on photothermal conversion efficiency are limited, and investigation of controlled codelivery with chemotherapeutic drug is lacking. Here, we improved the SPs performance via backbone and side-chain engineering, and afterward offered a pH-sensitive DOX-conjugated amphiphilic copolymer to encapsulate SPs. SP-encapsulated nanoparticles exhibited high photothermal conversion efficiency at a clinically feasible power level of NIR irradiation. NIR irradiation-generated hyperthermia not only killed tumor cells but also promoted DOX penetration inside the tumor tissue to ablate the tumor cells that survived hyperthermia. The synergistic effect of SP-based photothermal therapy and DOX-induced chemotherapy was verified in vivo. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(H) Cross-sectional fluorescence intensity corresponding to the location and direction of the black arrow in G, which also showed the intense fluorescence presented in the tumour cavity. Conversely, fluorescence was detected in some areas of the tumour cavity of ccRCC (Figure 3E-G), which was proved by the cross-sectional fluorescence intensity profile (Figure 3H). After exposing tumours, indocyanine green (ICG, 0.5 mg/kg body weight) was injected intravenously, the NIR-II fluorescence imaging system was used for the visualization of tumours (Figure 1, Supplementary S2). The resection of cystic renal masses (CRMs) represents a challenging process in terms of nephron-sparing surgery because the mostly fluid-filled growth pattern of renal cancers causes them easy to rupture.1 As the malignant tumours rupture, cancer cells metastasize in the abdominal cavity, patients face a high risk of recurrence.2 Meanwhile, studies have shown that more functional nephrons correlate with a better prognosis of patients.3 Therefore, it is crucial to achieving accurate and complete tumour resection during partial nephrectomy (PN). [Extracted from the article]

Grouting has always been the main engineering measure of ground improvement and foundation remediation of hydraulic structures. Due to complex geological conditions and the interactions between the grout and the fractured rock mass, which poses a serious challenge to the grouting diffusion mechanism analysis, fracture grouting has been a research hotspot for a long time. In order to throw light on the grout diffusion process in the fractured rock mass and the influence of grout on the fracture network, and to achieve more realistic grouting numerical simulation, in this paper a grouting process simulation approach considering fluid–structure interaction is developed based on the 3D fractured network model. Firstly, the relationship between fracture apertures and trace lengths is used to obtain a more realistic value of fracture aperture; then a more reliable model is established; subsequently, based on the 3D fracture network model, different numerical models are established to calculate fluid dynamics (grout) and structure deformation (fractured rock mass), and the results are exchanged at the fluid–structure interface to realize the grouting process simulation using two-way fluid-structure interaction method. Finally, the approach is applied to analyze the grouting performance of a hydropower station X, and the results show that the grouting simulation considering fluid–structure interaction are more realistic and can simultaneously reveal the diffusion of grout and the deformation of fracture, which indicates that it is necessary to consider the effect of fluid–structure interaction in grouting simulation. The results can provide more valuable information for grouting construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though siRNA-based therapy has achieved great progress, efficient siRNA delivery remains a challenge. Here, we synthesized a copolymer PAsp(-N=C-PEG)-PCys-PAsp(DETA) consisting of a poly(aspartate) block grafted with comb-like PEG side chains via a pH-sensitive imine bond (PAsp(-N=C-PEG) block), a poly(l-cysteine) block with a thiol group (PCys block), and a cationic poly(aspartate) block grafted with diethylenetriamine (PAsp(DETA) block). The cationic polymers efficiently complexed siRNA into polyplexes, showing a sandwich-like structure with a PAsp(-N=C-PEG) out-layer, a crosslinked PCys interlayer, and a complexing core of siRNA and PAsp(DETA). Low pH-triggered breakage of pH-sensitive imine bonds caused PEG shedding. The disulfide bond-crosslinking and pH-triggered PEG shedding synergistically decreased the polyplexes' size from 75 nm to 26 nm. To neutralize excessive positive charges and introduce the targeting ligand, the polyplexes without a PEG layer were coated with an anionic copolymer modified with the targeting ligand lauric acid. The resulting polyplexes exhibited high transfection efficiency and lysosomal escape capacity. This study provides a promising strategy to engineer the size and surface of polyplexes, allowing long blood circulation and targeted delivery of siRNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence has confirmed that immunoglobulins (Igs) can be expressed in non-B cells. Our previous work demonstrated that mesangial cells and podocytes express IgA and IgG, respectively. The aim of this work was to reveal whether proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTECs) express Igs. High-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) detected Igs in a small number of PTECs, and then we combined nested PCR with Sanger sequencing to detect the transcripts and characterize the repertoires of Igs in PTECs. We sorted PTECs from the normal renal cortex of two patients with renal cancer by FACS and further confirmed their identify by LRP2 gene expression. Only the transcripts of the IgG heavy chain were successfully amplified in 91/111 single PTECs. We cloned and sequenced 469 VHDJH transcripts from 91 single PTECs and found that PTEC-derived IgG exhibited classic VHDJH rearrangements with nucleotide additions at the junctions and somatic hypermutations. Compared with B cell-derived IgG, PTEC-derived IgG displayed less diversity of VHDJH rearrangements, predominant VH1-24/DH2-15/JH4 sequences, biased VH1 usage, centralized VH gene segment location at the 3′ end of the genome and non-Gaussian distribution of the CDR3 length. These results demonstrate that PTECs can express a distinct IgG repertoire that may have implications for their role in the renal tubular epithelial-mesenchymal transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]