Inversed albumin-to-globulin ratio and underlying liver disease severity as a prognostic factor for survival in hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization

PURPOSEPrevious studies have shown that an inversed albumin-to-globulin ratio (IAGR) is a predictor of the prognosis of many cancers. However, the prognostic value of an IAGR for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who undergo transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is still unclear. This study aims to evaluate the predictive value of an IAGR for the prognosis of those patients.METHODSThis study retrospectively analyzed 396 patients with HCC who received TACE. Using a cut-off value of 1.0 for the albumin-to-globulin ratio, patients were divided into a normal albumin-to-globulin ratio (NAGR) (≥1) and an IAGR (<1) group. Univariate and multivariate analyses and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to identify risk factors of overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Survival nomograms were constructed based on the multivariable analysis results and further evaluated using the consistency index (C-index) and calibration curve.RESULTSA total of 396 patients were included in the final analysis and were divided into the NAGR group (n = 298, 75.3%) and the IAGR (n = 98, 24.7%) group. The median OS and CSS were significantly worse in the IAGR group than in the NAGR group (OS: 8 vs. 26 months, CSS: 10 vs. 41 months, both P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that an IAGR was an independent risk factor for predicting worse OS [hazard ratio (HR), 2.024; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.460–2.806] and CSS (HR: 2.439; 95% CI: 1.651–3.601). The nomogram-based model-related C-indexes for OS and CSS prediction were 0.715 (95% CI: 0.697–0.733) and 0.750 (95% CI: 0.729–0.771), and the calibration of the nomogram showed good consistency.CONCLUSIONThe IAGR along with underlying liver disease severity were the useful prognostic predictors of OS and CSS among patients with HCC undergoing TACE and might be useful to identify high-risk patients

High Specific Capacitance of the Electrodeposited MnO2 on Porous Foam Nickel Soaked in Alcohol and its Dependence on Precursor Concentration

In this work, we used the mixed solution of manganese acetate and sodium sulfate to deposit manganese dioxide on the three-dimensional porous nickel foam that was previously soaked in alcohol, and then the effects of solution concentrations on their capacitance properties were investigated. The surface morphology, microstructure, elemental valence and other information of the material were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. The electrochemical properties of the material were tested by Galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Chronoamperometry (CA), Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), etc. The MnO2 electrode prepared at lower concentrations can respectively reach a specific capacitance of 529.5 F g&minus;1 and 237.3 F g&minus;1 at the current density of 1 A g&minus;1 and 10 A g&minus;1, and after 2000 cycles, the capacity retention rate was still 79.8% of the initial capacitance, and the energy density can even reach 59.4 Wh Kg&minus;1, while at the same time, it also has a lower electrochemical impedance (Rs = 1.18 Ω, Rct = 0.84 Ω)

Different wavelength ranges' WGM lasing from a ZnO microrod/R6G:PMMA microcavity

Dual-wavelength or multi-wavelength laser sources have potential application in many areas. The ZnO material is an important candidate for ultraviolet (UV) micro/nanolasers for integrated photonic systems. In this paper, the dual-wavelength whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) laser is fabricated by symmetrically coating Rhodamine 6G (R6G):PMMA on a ZnO microrod, and realizes the UV WGM lasing and orange WGM lasing under optical pumping condition. The performance of the UV and orange WGM lasing, including the lasing threshold, emission intensity and quality factors (Q) are discussed. The resonance mechanism of the dual-wavelength WGM lasing is analyzed in detail. The two-dimensional FDTD simulation on optical-field distribution also confirms the resonance mechanism. This work is important to the design of optically and electrically pumped dual- or multi-wavelength WGM lasers