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A solvent-free solid-phase technique was developed for the targeted defect passivation of perovskite films, resulting in an ultra-high PCE of 25.2%.

Herein, by applying visible-light photoredox catalysis, we have achieved the catalytic deaminative alkylation of diphenylphosphine and phenyl phosphine with benzylamine-derived Katritzky salts at room temperature. The use of Eosin Y as photoredox catalyst and visible light can largely promote the reaction. A series of unsymmetrical tertiary phosphines were successfully synthesized, including phosphines with three different substituents that are otherwise difficult to obtain.

The sidewall of a high-speed train body is welded by multiple hollow extruded aluminum alloy sheets. Due to the material characteristics of aluminum alloy, excessive welding deformation is easy to occur in the welding process of the sidewall. The welding quality of the sidewall is mainly guaranteed by fixtures, and the reasonable arrangement of sidewall fixtures can reduce the welding deformation. In this paper, a robust design of sidewall fixtures is carried out based on the Taguchi method and the double response surface method. Firstly, simplified shell element models of the sidewall are established and verified, and a welding deformation evaluation index of the sidewall is put forward. Secondly, based on the inside and outside table experimental design, the Taguchi method is used to design the robust parameters of sidewall fixtures, and robust locating parameters of sidewall fixtures are determined according to the SNR. Thirdly, the mean and standard deviation models of welding deformation are established based on the double response surface method, and the robust design of sidewall fixtures are carried out with the minimization of the square sum of the mean close to the target and the standard deviation. Finally, by comparing the original scheme, the fixture design scheme based on the Taguchi method and the fixture design scheme based on the double response surface method, it shows that the robust scheme of sidewall fixtures based on the double response surface method is best.

An unprecedented and general titanium-catalyzed boration of alkyl (pseudo)halides (alkyl-X, X = I, Br, Cl, OMs) with borane (HBpin, HBcat) is reported. The use of titanium catalyst can successfully suppress the undesired hydrodehalogenation products that prevail using other transition-metal catalysts. A series of synthetically useful alkyl boronate esters are readily obtained from various (primary, secondary, and tertiary) alkyl electrophiles, including unactivated alkyl chlorides, with tolerance of other reducing functional groups such as ester, alkene, and carbamate. Preliminary studies on the mechanism revealed a possible radical reaction pathway. Further extension of our strategy to aryl bromides is also demonstrated.

Multi(boronate) esters have been attracting increasing attention as versatile building blocks for the succinct and precise synthesis of complex molecules. However, there are a limited number of eff...

BACKGROUND: Radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) is the principal method for treatment of high-risk upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). The transperitoneal approach is associated with poor disease progression, but the distal ureter-bladder cuff (DUBC) resection through retroperitoneal laparoscopic approach is difficult. This study proposed a modulated RNU technique, namely, total retroperitoneal laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (tRLRNU), with its advantages of DUBC resection and requiring fewer trocars etc. The efficiency, safety, and short-term impacts were retrospectively compared with total transperitoneal laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (tTLRNU). METHODS: Total of 12 patients who received tRLRNU and 28 patients who received tTLRNU were enrolled. The choice of surgical approach was random and their data were retrospectively analyzed. During tRLRNU, the laparoscope was versed towards the caudal direction and a retroperitoneal laparoscopic ureterectomy was performed. The bladder cuff was entirely transected and the bladder incision was sutured. The tRLRNU cases were compared with the tTLRNU cases in terms of general clinical data, pathologic parameters, peri-operative parameters, adjuvant therapy, and short-term outcomes. The independent samples t-tests, chi-square tests, and Fischer exact tests were used to analyze the differences. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the basic patient characteristics between the 2 groups. The data were comparable. There were significantly fewer trocars utilized in tRLRNU group compared to tTLRNU group (P=0.0008). tRLRNU group experienced less blood loss (98.33±61.32 versus 170.71±121.32 mL; P=0.017), smaller drainage volume (182.08±163.60 versus 1,924.82±3,370.02 mL; P=0.011), and shorter extubation time (5.67±1.07 versus 8.57±6.96 days; P=0.040) compared to tRLRNU group. There were no statistically differences in the other peri-operative parameters, including whole operation time, transfusion, visceral and vascular injuries, open conversion, post-operative bleeding, recovery time of intestinal function, and discharge time. The patient outcomes in tTLRNU group at 6 months were significantly worse than that of tRLRNU group by comparing progression-free survival, progression survival and mortality (P=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: The tRLRNU was potentially safer, minimally invasive, and more effective compared to the tTLRNU. Due to the small sample size, short follow-up time and no randomization of the study, future comparative studies are warranted to further analyze long-term outcomes of tRLRNU.

A general and atom‐economical synthesis of 1,1‐diborylalkanes from alkenes and a borane without the need for an additional H2 acceptor is reported for the first time. The key to our success is the use of an earth‐abundant zirconium‐based catalyst, which allows a balance of self‐contradictory reactivities (dehydrogenative boration and hydroboration) to be achieved. Our method avoids using an excess amount of another alkene as an H2 acceptor, which was required in other reported systems. Furthermore, substrates such as simple long‐chain aliphatic alkenes that did not react before also underwent 1,1‐diboration in our system. Significantly, the unprecedented 1,1‐diboration of internal alkenes enabled the preparation of 1,1‐diborylalkanes., An earth‐abundant zirconium‐based catalyst has been developed for the selective 1,1‐diboration of bulk and inexpensive alkenes with a borane without the need for an additional H2 acceptor. Many aryl alkenes as well as long‐chain aliphatic alkenes convert smoothly into their corresponding 1,1‐diborylalkanes and the method also allows the unprecedented remote 1,1‐diboration of internal alkenes.

We explored the impact of coach professional and emotional-healing competency on athlete psychological engagement. We tested our predictions with a sample of 418 athletes. The results showed there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between coach professional competency and athletes' psychological engagement, and a positive relationship between coach emotional-healing competency and athletes' psychological engagement. We also found that coach emotional-healing competency moderated the inverted U-shaped relationship between coach professional competency and athlete psychological engagement. The findings provide the critical practical implication that coaches should not neglect to foster the competency of emotional healing as they concentrate on the promotion of their professional competency in the process of working with athletes.

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The strong embeddability is a notion of metric geometry, which is an intermediate property lying between coarse embeddability and property A. In this paper, the permanence properties of strong embeddability for groups acting on metric spaces are studied. The authors show that a finitely generated group acting on a finitely asymptotic dimension metric space by isometries whose K-stabilizers are strongly embeddable is strongly embeddable. Moreover, they prove that the fundamental group of a graph of groups with strongly embeddable vertex groups is also strongly embeddable.

Azo compounds are widely used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Here, we report the use of a non-metal photo-redox catalyst, Eosin Y, to synthesize azo compounds from hydrazine derivatives. The use of visible-light with air as the oxidant makes this process sustainable and practical. Moreover, the visible-light-driven, photo-redox-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of azobenzenes is compatible with a series of hydrogen donors such as phenyl hydrazine and cyclic amines. Compared with traditional (thermal/transition-metal) methods, our process avoids the issue of over-reduction to aniline, which extends the applicability of photo-redox catalysis and confirms it as a useful tool for synthetic organic chemistry.

Endophytic microorganisms play important physiological functions in plants and animals. In this paper, we developed a method to obtain endophytic microbiome information directly by analyzing transcriptome sequencing data files of plants and animals. Compared with the use of amplicon analysis or whole-genome sequencing of animal and plant tissues to analyze microbial composition information, this method can obtain endophytic microbiome information in addition to obtaining gene expression information of host plants and animals.

BACKGROUND: Suitable in vitro models are needed to investigate urothelial epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and pro-fibrogenesis phenotype in bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC). This study is to establish a novel experimental BPS/IC cell model and explore how different concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α influence the EMT and pro-fibrogenesis phenotype of urothelial cells. METHODS: SV-HUC-1 urothelial cells were cultured with 2, 10, or 50 ng/mL TNF-α to mimic chronic inflammatory stimulation. The EMT and pro-fibrogenesis phenotype, including production of collagen I and pro-fibrosis cytokines, were estimated after 72 h of culture. RESULTS: The bladder urothelial cells of BPS/IC exhibited upregulated vimentin, TNF-α and TNF receptor, downregulated E-cadherin, and increased collagen I. Higher concentrations of TNF-α (10 and 50 ng/mL) produced an obvious mesenchymal morphology, enhanced invasion and migratory capacity, increased expression of vimentin, and decreased expression of E-cadherin. Collagen I was increased in cells treated with 2 and 10 ng/mL TNF-α after 72 h. Secretion of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 was promoted with 10 and 50 ng/mL TNF-α, while that of IL-1β or transforming growth factor-β was unaffected. Slug and Smad2 were upregulated by TNF-α after 72 h. The Smad pathway was activated most strongly with 10 ng/mL TNF-α and Slug pathway activation was positively correlated with the concentration of TNF-α. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained 10 ng/mL TNF-α stimulation induced the EMT and pro-fibrogenesis phenotype resembling BPS/IC in SV-HUC-1 cells. Minor inflammatory stimulation induced the pro-fibrogenesis phenotype while severe inflammatory stimulation was more likely to produce significant EMT changes. Different degrees of activation of the Slug and Smad pathways may underlie this phenomenon.

Background It is proposed a new running suture technique called Needle Adjustment Free (NAF) technique, or PAN suture. The efficiency and the safety were evaluated in laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. Methods This new running suture technique avoids the Needle Adjustment method used in traditional techniques. The new continuous suture technique (11 patients) was compared with the traditional continuous suture method (33 patients) used in both transperitoneal and retroperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) in terms of suture time (ST), warm ischemia time (WIT), blood loss (BL), open conversion rate and post-op discharge time, post-op bleeding, post-op DVT, ΔGFR (affected side, 3 months post-op). Differences were considered significant when P Results ST in the PAN suture group was 30.37 ± 16.39 min, which was significant shorter (P = 0.0011) than in the traditional technique group which was 13.68 ± 3.33 min. WIT in the traditional technique group was 28.73 ± 7.89 min, while in the PAN suture group was 20.64 ± 5.04 min, P = 0.0028. The BL in entirety in the traditional technique group was 141.56 ± 155.23 mL, and in the PAN suture group was 43.18 ± 31.17 mL (P = 0.0017). BL in patients without massive bleeding in the traditional technique group was significantly greater than in the PAN suture group at 101.03 ± 68.73 mL versus 43.18 ± 31.17 mL (P = 0.0008). The open conversion rate was 0 % in both groups. There was no significant difference between the two groups in postoperative discharge time, post-op bleeding, post-op DVT, ΔGFR (affected side, 3 months post-op). Conclusions The NAF running suture technique, or PAN suture, leading to less ST, WIT and BL, which was shown to be more effective and safer than the traditional technique used for LPN. A further expanded research with larger sample size is needed.

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence has demonstrated aquaporins (AQPs) to be critical players in carcinogenesis. Here, we aimed to explore the role of hydropenia in the progression of bladder cancer (BCa), as well as to assess the expression of AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 in bladder tissues from hydropenic and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-treated rats. METHODS: An orthotopic BCa model was induced by administering Sprague Dawley rats with MNU. A hydropenic rat model was established by administrating rats with 2/3 of the amount of water given to the control group. At week 8, the rats were sacrificed and their bladder tissues were collected. Then, pathological alterations in the rat bladders were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The RNA and protein expression levels of AQP1, AQP3, and AQP4 were determined by using qRT-PCR and western blot assays. RESULTS: All of the rats (100%) administrated with MNU developed tumors, of which 5 were large (diameter, 0.5–1.0 cm), 10 were medium (diameter, 0.2–0.5 cm), and 5 were small (diameter

Background Beforehand transection and suturing (BTS) of the dorsal vascular complex (DVC), a novel technique in non-neurovascular bundle sparing (NVB-sparing) extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (eLRP), had been proposed; this study aimed to evaluate this technique in clinical laparoscopic procedures. Methods Using this new technique, the DVC was transected and sutured after dissection of the pelvic fascia and before dissection of the prostate, especially before ligation of the bilateral prostatic pedicles. This study retrospectively analyzed the data of 90 non NVB-sparing eLRP patients [traditional technique (n=60) and BTS technique (n=30)]. Results The surgical time in the BTS technique group was 121.73±24.53 min, which was significantly shorter (P=0.0015) than the traditional technique group (144.12±39.68 min). The calculated blood loss in the traditional technique group was 388.45±232.78 mL, and 264.16±130.70 mL in the BTS technique group (P=0.0016). The estimated blood loss in the traditional technique group was 350.34±311.80 mL, which was significantly greater than the BTS technique group (250.33±145.31 mL, P=0.0422). The transfusion rate in the traditional technique group was significantly greater than the BTS technique group (15.00% vs. 0.00%; P=0.0266). The biochemical recurrence rate in traditional technique group was 48.33%, which was higher than in the BTS group (30.00%) (P=0.0465). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups with respect to the pre-operative hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, pre-operative hematocrit (HCT), post-operative Hb concentration, post-operative HCT, ΔHCT, pre-operative blood volume, rectal perforation, open conversion, apical capsule residue, false suture, post-operative bleeding, urinary leakage, re-operation, surgical site infection, post-operative stay, and emission time of urinary incontinence. Conclusions In managing the relationship between the DVC and prostate in patients undergoing non NVB-sparing eLRP, the BTS technique was shown to be more effective and safer than the traditional technique.

As the main distribution place of deep-level defects and the entrance of water, the interface is critical to determining both the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and the stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Suitable interface design can dramatically passivate interface defects and optimize energy level alignment for suppressing the nonradiative recombination and effectively extracting the photogenerated carriers towards higher PCE. Meanwhile, a proper interface design can also block the interface diffusion of ions for high operational stability. Therefore, interface modification is of great significance to make the PSCs more efficient and stable. Upon optimized material choices, the three-dimensional halide perovskite graded junction layer, low-dimensional halide perovskite interface layer and organic salt passivation layer have been constructed on perovskite films for superior PSCs, yet a systematic review of them is missing. Thus, a guide and summary of recent advances in modulating the perovskite films interface is necessary for the further development of more efficient interface modification.

Background Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) messenger RNA binding protein 3 (IMP3) has been testified to be overexpressed in prostate cancer and strongly related to patients’ poor prognosis. However, the functions of IMP3 and the underlying mechanisms in prostate cancer still remain unknown. Therefore, the current study was carried out to reveal the role and molecular mechanism of IMP3 in prostate cancer progression. Methods The expression levels of IMP3 in prostate cancer tissues and cells were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blotting and RT-PCR. CCK-8, clone formation, flow cytometry and in vivo tumor formation assays were used to determine cell growth, clone formation apoptosis and tumorigenesis, respectively. The effect of IMP3 on the expression levels of the key proteins in PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, including PIP2, PIP3, p-AKT, AKT, p-mTOR, mTOR, PTEN and BAD activation of was determined by western blotting. IP (Immunoprecipitation) assay was used to evaluate the effects of IMP3 and SMURF1 (SMAD specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1) on the ubiquitination of PTEN protein. Results IMP3 expression level was significantly increased in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines (LNCap, PC3 and DU145) as compared with the paracancerous normal tissues and cells (RWPE-1), respectively. High expression of IMP3 apparently promoted cell viability, tumorigenesis and inhibited cell apoptosis in prostate cancer LNCap, DU145 and PC3 cell lines. In mechanism, IMP3 upregulation significantly increased the phosphorylation levels of AKT and mTOR, and elevated PIP3 expression level, while induced significant reductions in the expression levels of BAD, PTEN and PIP2. And, IMP3 overexpression increased SMURF1 expression, which facilitated PTEN ubiquitination. In addition, SMURF1 overexpression enhanced prostate cancer cell viability and inhibited cell apoptosis. Silence of SMURF1 rescued the enhancements in cell proliferation and tumorigenesis and the inhibition in cell apoptosis rates induced by IMP3 in prostate cancer DU145 and LNCap cells. Conclusion This study reveals that IMP3 is overdressed in prostate cancer, which accelerates the progression of prostate cancer through activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway via increasing SMURF1-mediated PTEN ubiquitination.

To evaluate the survival benefits that lymph node dissection (LND) brought to clinically node-negative upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients. Non-metastatic node-negative UTUC patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. N0 patients were naturally divided as cN0-pNx group (clinically diagnosed as N0 without LND performed) and cNx-pN0 group (pathologically diagnosed as node-negative no matter what clinical node status they have). Of the 2731 patients included, 2240 and 491 cases were cN0-pNx and cNx-pN0, respectively. The overall survival (OS) of cNx-pN0 patients was significantly better than that of cNx-pN0 patients (p = 0.022). After propensity score matching, the survival of cNx-pN0 patients was still significantly better than cN0-pNx group. Besides, multivariate analyses showed cNx-pN0 (received LND) was an independent favorable prognostic factor for OS and CSS compared with cN0-pNx (no LND). Survival advantages of pN0 group were more significant in ≥ T2 patients and patients with tumor size ≤ 5 cm. Even in N0 patients who received adjuvant treatment, LND still brought obvious survival improvement (HRos = 0.565, p = 0.013; HRcss = 0.607, p = 0.046). LND could improve survival outcomes in patients with clinically node-negative UTUC, especially for those with muscle-invasive diseases (T2–4 stages) or smaller tumor size (≤ 5 cm). Adjuvant treatment after nephroureterectomy is incapable of replacing the therapeutic role of LND.

Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of lymph node (LN) involvement for patients with chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) and ascertain the minimum number of LNs that need to be pathologically examined to reliably diagnose a patient with node negative chRCC. Methods From 2004 to 2014, non-metastatic chRCC patients receiving radical nephrectomy together with lymphadenectomy were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Results Two hundred and forty-six patients received lymph node dissection during the surgery. Of the patients, 24 (10%) had pathologically confirmed positive LN. Multivariate Cox regression model showed that positive LN was an independent unfavorable predictor for OS (HR = 2.83, 95%CI = 1.14-6.98, P = 0.024). More importantly, LN(-) patients with at least three LNs dissected had significantly better OS compared with when 1-2 LNs were examined (P = 0.048). Multivariate analysis confirmed that in LN(-) patients, the examination of three or more LNs could independently predict better OS compared with patients with only 1-2 LNs dissected (HR≥3LNs = 0.362, 95% CI = 0.135-0.972, P = 0.044). Additionally, the likelihood of finding at least one positive LN was significantly higher on dissection of ≥3 LNs compared with examination of 1-2 LNs (15% vs 5%, P = 0.018). Decision curve analysis found a better clinical validity of the '3 LNs examined'-based classification compared with the traditional LN(-)/LN(+) classification. Conclusion The proportion of positive LNs in chRCC was far from neglectable and LN metastasis could independently predict unfavorable OS. We recommended a minimum of three LNs should be pathologically examined in order to reliably determine node negative.

Background Previous researches pointed out that the measurement of urine fibronectin (Fn) could be a potential diagnostic test for bladder cancer (BCa). We conducted this meta-analysis to fully assess the diagnostic value of urine Fn for BCa detection. Methods A systematic literature search in PubMed, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and CBM was carried out to identify eligible studies evaluating the urine Fn in diagnosing BCa. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were established. We applied the STATA 13.0, Meta-Disc 1.4, and RevMan 5.3 software to the meta-analysis. Results Eight separate studies with 744 bladder cancer patients were enrolled in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR were 0.80 (95%CI = 0.77–0.83), 0.79 (95%CI = 0.73–0.84), and 15.18 (95%CI = 10.07–22.87), respectively, and the area under the curve (AUC) of SROC was 0.83 (95%CI = 0.79–0.86). The diagnostic power of a combined method (urine Fn combined with urine cytology) was also evaluated, and its sensitivity and AUC were significantly higher (0.86 (95%CI = 0.82–0.90) and 0.89 (95%CI = 0.86–0.92), respectively). Meta-regression along with subgroup analysis based on various covariates revealed the potential sources of the heterogeneity and the detailed diagnostic value of each subgroup. Sensitivity analysis supported that the result was robust. No threshold effect and publication bias were found in this meta-analysis. Conclusions Urine Fn may become a promising non-invasive biomarker for bladder cancer with a relatively satisfactory diagnostic power. And the combination of urine Fn with cytology could be an alternative option for detecting BCa in clinical practice. The potential value of urine Fn still needs to be validated in large, multi-center, and prospective studies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12957-018-1358-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Introduction About 30% of haemophilia A (HA) patients are sporadic cases. It is important to confirm the mutation origin and carrier status in these families. Aim To describe the spectrum and origin of the mutations in 393 Chinese sporadic HA families and identify potential mosaics among non-carrier mothers. Methods AccuCopy quantification combined with long-distance PCR was used for genotyping intron 22/1 inversion (Inv22/Inv1) and Inv22 mosaicism. F8 gene sequences were analysed by direct sequencing. Copy number variations of F8 gene were detected by AccuCopy method. Six short tandem repeats related to F8 gene were applied for linkage analysis. Mosaicism of point mutations/small deletions/insertions was determined by ddNTP primer extension method. Results Most of sporadic patients' mothers are carriers, in 257 cases with integral family members, 60% have the mutations tracing back to their fathers, 12% to their mothers. 28% had de novo mutations with non-carrier mothers as revealed by routine genetic studies. Mutation spectrum of sporadic families was different in groups with different origins of mutations. Point mutation (51%) was the predominant mutation type in pedigrees with de novo mutations. While, in families with mutations inherited from maternal grandfathers, Inv22 was the main type (51%). We found somatic mosaic in mothers of 30% (3/10) pedigrees with de novo Inv22 and 11.5% (3/26) pedigrees with point mutations. Conclusion The spectrum of F8 genetic variants identified in sporadic families was fairly diverse. The high prevalence of chimaeras in carriers suggests that more cautions should be taken in genetic counselling of sporadic haemophilia families.

Objectives: To develop reliable nomograms to estimate individualized overall survival (OS) and cancer specific survival (CSS) for patients with primary small cell carcinoma of the bladder (SCCB) and compare the predictive value with the AJCC stages. Patients and Methods: 582 eligible SCCB patients identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) dataset were randomly divided into training (n=482) and validation (n=100) cohorts. Akaike information criterion was used to select the clinically important variables in multivariate Cox models when establishing nomograms. The performance of nomograms was bootstrapped validated internally and externally using the concordance index (C-index) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and calibration curves and was compared with that of the AJCC stages using C-index, Kaplan-Meier curves and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: Two nomograms shared common indicators including age, tumor size, T stage, lymph node ratio, metastases, chemotherapy, radiation and radical cystectomy, while marriage and gender were only incorporated in the OS nomogram. The C-indices of nomograms for OS and CSS were 0.736 (95%CI 0.711-0.761) and 0.731(95%CI 0.704-0.758), respectively, indicating considerable predictive accuracy. Calibration curves showed consistency between the nomograms and the actual observation. The results remained reproducible when nomograms were applied to the validation cohort. Additionally, comparisons between C-indices, Kaplan-Meier curves and DCA proved that the nomograms obtained obvious superiority over the AJCC stages with wide practical threshold probabilities. Conclusions: We proposed the first two nomograms for individualized prediction of OS and CSS in SCCB patients with satisfactory predictive accuracy, good robustness and wide applicability.

To evaluate the prognostic roles of organ-specific metastases and analyze the impact of organ-specific metastases on surgical resection of the primary tumor for metastatic upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) patients. A population-based study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was carried out. Kaplan-Meier analysis were used for survival comparisons. Multivariate Cox regression model was employed to analyze the effect of distant metastatic organs on overall survival (OS) and cancer specific survival (CSS). 337 patients from 2010 to 2014 were included. Patients with brain metastasis had significantly worse OS (p = 0.012) and CSS (p = 0.004). Liver metastasis could only independently predict unfavorable OS rather than CSS. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with bone, lung or distant lymph node metastasis was not independent prognostic factor for patients' survival. Surgical resection of the primary tumor was an independent favorable predictor for both OS (p = 0.004) and CSS advantages (p = 0.006). In subgroup analysis, patients with multiple organs of metastasis or distant lymph node involvement could benefit from surgical resection of the primary tumor. However, the presence of liver or lung metastasis could make such surgery become meaningless from the point of survival benefits. Our study showed that brain metastasis independently predicted both unfavorable OS and CSS for metastatic UTUC patients while liver metastasis was only associated with worse OS. More importantly, surgical resection of the primary tumor might still lead to survival benefits for highly selected patients.

The open-circuit voltage (VOC ) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is reported to be significantly weakened by carrier loss at the film surface. Here, the moisture condensation at only the upper surface of perovskite films is controlled by constructing an ultralow surface temperature. Then, type-I band alignment can be formed at the surface grain boundaries due to the etching effect of trace amounts of condensed moisture. The beneficially constructed surface type-I band alignment can effectively repel carriers and return them to the inside of the grain, significantly avoiding the carrier loss at films surface. As a result, a superior carrier lifetime exceeding 2.5 µs is obtained and the VOC of PSC is remarkably boosted from 1.07 to 1.17 V. The minimum VOC deficit of only 0.39 V enables a substantial gain in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 20.2% to 22.4% in one-step spin-coating methods. Moreover, this innovation is versatile and a champion PCE of 23.2% is also achieved in two-step spin-coating methods.