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Non-coplanar volumetric modulated arc therapy (ncVMAT) is proposed to reduce toxicity in heart and lungs for locoregional radiotherapy of left-sided breast cancer, including internal mammary nodes (IMN).

Objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity were recorded. Results: Thirty-four patients were retrospectively enrolled between January 2016 and September 2021. Most patients received concurrent targeted therapy (70.6%) and/or post-RT (79.4%). The in-field ORR and disease control rates were 79.4% and 97.1%, respectively. The OS rates were 77.6% at 1 year and 36.3% at 2 years (median OS, 15.8 months). The median PFS and median in-field PFS were 4.2 months and not reached, respectively. The PFS and in-field PFS rates were 24.6% and 79.2% at 1 year, 19.7% and 72.0% at 2 years, respectively. An alpha-fetoprotein level > 1000 ng/mL was a significant prognostic factor for worse OS (HR, 5.674; 95% CI, 1.588– 20.276; p=0.008); in-field complete/partial response was a significant prognostic factor for better OS (HR, 0.116; 95% CI, 0.027– 0.499; p=0.004). The most common site of first failure was the lungs (13/34 patients, 38.2%), followed by the liver (7/34 patients, 20.6%). No patients developed radiation-induced liver disease or pulmonary embolism during follow-up. Conclusion: Combining RT and systemic therapy was safe and effective in treating patients with HCC with HVTT and IVCTT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eutrophication, the over‐enrichment with nutrients, for example, nitrogen and phosphorus, of ponds, reservoirs and lakes, is an urgent water quality issue. The most notorious symptom of eutrophication is a massive proliferation of cyanobacteria, which cause aquatic organism death, impair ecosystem and harm human health. The method considered to be most effective to counteract eutrophication is to reduce external nutrient inputs. However, merely controlling external nutrient load is insufficient to mitigate eutrophication. Consequently, a rapid diminishing of cyanobacterial blooms is relied on in‐lake intervention, which may encompass a great variety of different approaches. Coagulation/flocculation is the most used and important water purification unit. Since cyanobacterial cells generally carry negative charges, coagulants are added to water to neutralize the negative charges on the surface of cyanobacteria, causing them to destabilize and precipitate. Most of cyanobacteria and their metabolites can be removed simultaneously. However, when cyanobacterial density is high, sticky secretions distribute outside cells because of the small size of cyanobacteria. The sticky secretions are easily to form complex colloids with coagulants, making it difficult for cyanobacteria to destabilize and resulting in unsatisfactory treatment effects of coagulation on cyanobacteria. Therefore, various coagulants and coagulation methods were developed. In this paper, the focus is on the coagulation of cyanobacteria as a promising tool to manage eutrophication. Basic principles, applications, pros and cons of chemical, physical and biological coagulation are reviewed. In addition, the application of coagulation in water treatment is discussed. It is the aim of this review article to provide a significant reference for large‐scale governance of cyanobacterial blooms. Practitioner Points: Flocculation was a promising tool for controlling cyanobacteria blooms.Basic principles of four kinds of flocculation methods were elucidated.Flocculant was important in the flocculation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algal–bacterial granular sludge technology is a new type of wastewater treatment and resource regeneration process, which has received widespread attention due to its excellent nitrogen and phosphorus removal performance, and energy-saving and emission reduction effects. Although algal–bacterial granular sludge technology has achieved an ideal nutrient removal ability, some pol-lutants in wastewater might affect the symbiotic relationship between algae and bacteria. This study investigated the impact of coexisting Pb(II) on the symbiosis of algal–bacterial granular sludge. It was found that 2.5–10.0 mg/L of Pb(II) exposure increased the relative abundance of Pro-teobacteria. In addition, more protein in extracellular polymeric substances (EPS-PN) was secreted at 2.5 mg/L of Pb(II) exposure while EPS-PN content reduced at a rate of 5.0–10.0 mg/L of Pb(II). Under different concentrations of Pb(II), the damage degree of algal–bacterial granular sludge was exacerbated, evidenced by increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content. To cope with these adverse circumstances, the antioxidant enzyme activity of both super-oxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase dismutase (CAT) was boosted. With the help of these adaptive strategies, the symbiosis of algal–bacterial granular sludge was stable. Moreover, the performance of algal–bacterial granular sludge in treating COD, ammonia-N and phosphate-P was kept at above 95%. This study approved that a Pb(II) concentration less than 10.0 mg/L had little effect on the performance of algal–bacterial granular sludge in wastewater treatment. It is hoped that this study can provide useful information for an improved engineering feasibility of algal–bacterial granular sludge process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, sycamore was used as biomass and urea was used as precursor to prepare N-doped biochar (NCX, X represented temperature) containing different active components at designed pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 °C). The different activation mechanisms of PMS and PDS were discussed in depth for the first time through N-doped biochar at different pyrolysis temperatures. In the PMS+NCX system, NC500 at lower preparation temperature showed excellent catalytic performance for bisphenol A (BPA) removal, while in the PDS+NCX system, the catalytic performance of NCX catalyst increased gradually with the increasing of temperature. The chemical quenching experiment, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) test were conducted to clarify the crucial reactive oxidative species (ROS). The ¹O2 and O2•- dominated radical degradation pathway in the PMS+NC500 system and O2•-- was the main ROS species reigned radical degradation pathway in the PDS+NC900 system were revealed. Electrochemical tests included chronoamperometry, linear sweep voltammograms (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated the existence of non-free radical pathways (electron transfer) in the degradation of BPA in both systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]