Fe₅C₂ Nanoparticles: A Facile Bromide-Induced Synthesis and as an Active Phase for Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis

Iron carbide nanoparticles have long been considered to have great potential in new energy conversion, nanomagnets, and nanomedicines. However, the conventional relatively harsh synthetic conditions of iron carbide hindered its wide applications. In this article, we present a facile wet-chemical route for the synthesis of Hägg iron carbide (Fe₅C₂) nanoparticles, in which bromide was found to be the key inducing agent for the conversion of Fe­(CO)₅ to Fe₅C₂ in the synthetic process. Furthermore, the as-synthesized Fe₅C₂ nanoparticles were applied in the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) and exhibited intrinsic catalytic activity in FTS, demonstrating that Fe₅C₂ is an active phase for FTS. Compared with a conventional reduced-hematite catalyst, the Fe₅C₂ nanoparticles showed enhanced catalytic performance in terms of CO conversion and product selectivity

Copper-Catalyzed, Aerobic Synthesis of <i>N</i>H‑Sulfonimidamides from Primary Sulfinamides and Secondary Amines

NH-Sulfonimidamides are prepared by copper-catalyzed coupling of primary sulfinamides with secondary amines. Neither a ligand nor an additive is needed, and air is the terminal oxidant. The reactions occur at room temperature, show good functional group tolerance, and lead to products in good yields. A sulfanenitrile is proposed as an intermediate in this oxidative amination

NOx Removal over Modified Carbon Molecular Sieve Catalysts Using a Combined Adsorption-Discharge Plasma Catalytic Process

Carbon molecular sieves (CMS), 13X zeolite, and γ-Al₂O₃ were selected as catalyst support to investigate the NOx adsorption capacity, and a series of Cu modified CMS-based catalysts were used to investigate the NOx adsorption and discharge plasma catalytic removal capacity. Results showed that CMS has a larger NOx adsorption amount and lower desorption temperature in NOx temperature programmed desorption (TPD) process. The addition of Cu benefits the NOx adsorption and nonthermal plasmas (NTP) removal capacity, and the NOx removal capacity and the ratio of NTP/(NTP + TPD) achieved 96.2% and 68.39% over 15%Cu-CMS in 30 min. Water vapor has an obvious effect on the NOx adsorption and discharge plasma catalytic process. In cyclic operation, 15%Cu-CMS has a better NOx adsorption-discharge property. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method showed the average pore width, surface area, and pore volume of the sample after cyclic operation has no significant change. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed a new lattice oxygen peak appeared in O 1s spectra, and the Cu₂O peak disappeared in Cu 2p spectra after cyclic operation

The Role of BRCA Status on the Prognosis of Patients with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature with a Meta-Analysis

<div><p>Objective</p><p>The role of BRCA dysfunction on the prognosis of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOCs) remains controversial. This systematic review tried to assess the role of BRCA dysfunction, including BRCA1/2 germline, somatic mutations, low BRCA1 protein/mRNA expression or BRCA1 promoter methylation, as prognostic factor in EOCs.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Studies were selected for analysis if they provided an independent assessment of BRCA status and prognosis in EOC. To make it possible to aggregate survival results of the published studies, their methodology was assessed using a modified quality scale.</p><p>Results</p><p>Of 35 evaluable studies, 23 identified BRCA dysfucntion status as a favourable prognostic factor. No significant differences were detected in the global score of quality assessment. The aggregated hazard ratio (HR) of overall survival (OS) of 34 evaluable studies suggested that BRCA dysfunction status had a favourable impact on OS (HR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.61–0.79), and when these studies were categorised into BRCA1/2 mutation and low protein/mRNA expression of BRCA1 subgroups, all of them demonstrated positive results (HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.57–0.78; HR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.51–0.75; and HR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.33–0.78, respectively), except for the subgroup of BRCA1 promoter methylation (HR = 1.59, 95% CI: 0.72–3.50). The meta-analysis of progression-free survival (PFS), which included 18 evaluable studies, demonstrated that BRCA dysfunction status was associated with a longer PFS in EOC (HR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.63–0.76).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Patients with BRCA dysfunction status tend to have a better outcome, but further prospective clinical studies comparing the different BRCA statuses in EOC is urgently needed to specifically define the most effective treatment for the separate patient groups.</p></div

Summary hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of epithelial ovarian cancer OS for BRCA dysfunction status.

<p>Horizontal lines represent 95% CIs; diamonds represent summary estimates with corresponding 95% CIs. Test for heterogeneity: <i>P</i> = .000, <i>I</i>² = 61.7%. A random-effects model was used for analysis.</p

Characteristics of studies of patients with BRCA1/2 mutated ovarian cancer.

<p><b>Histology</b>: pathological histology of ovarian cancer, se = serous ovarian cancer, CCC = clear cell cancer of, Mu = mucinous ovarian cancer. all = almost all of the epithelial ovarian cancer types, including serous, mucinous, clear cell cancer, etc.</p><p><b>Laboratory methods</b>: laboratory methods used to detect BRCA1/2 mutation, PTT = Protein truncation test, SSCP = Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism, seq = sequencing, DGGE = fluorescent multiplex denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, MLPA = multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, DHPLC = Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography, RFLP = Restriction fragment length polymorphisms, F-CSGE = Fluorescence-based Conformation Sensitive Gel Electrophoresis.</p><p><b>Germline/somatic</b>: Germ = germline mutation, Mixed = BRCA1 germline/somatic mutation or BRCA1 promoter methylation.</p><p><b>Mutation types:</b> VUS = variants of unknown significance.</p><p><b>Treatment</b>: chemotherapy used, 1 = only Platinum was used, 2 = Platinum-based chemotherapy, 3 = other agents without Platinum, like Paclitaxel, etc.</p

Summary hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of ovarian cancer PFS for BRCA dysfunction status.

<p>Horizontal lines represent 95% CIs; diamonds represent summary estimates with corresponding 95% CIs. Test for heterogeneity: <i>P</i> = .118, <i>I</i>² = 29.3%. A fixed-effects model was used.</p

Subgroup meta-analysis of summary hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of ovarian cancer OS for different BRCA mutation statuses.

<p><b>A:</b> BRCA1 mutation. <b>B:</b> BRCA2 mutation. Horizontal lines represent 95% CIs; diamonds represent summary estimates with corresponding 95% CIs. Test for heterogeneity: <b>A: </b><i>P</i> = .251, <i>I </i>² = 20.2%, a fixed-effects model was used; <b>B: </b><i>P</i> = .023, <i>I</i>² = 55.1%, a random-effects model was used.</p

Begg’s funnel plots of the natural logarithm of the hazard ratios (HRs) and the SE of the natural logarithm of the HRs for all of the included studies reported with OS and PFS.

<p>A: Begg’s funnel plots for all of the included studies reported with OS, the dashed line represents 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Circles represent individual studies. Begg’s test: <i>P</i> = 0.221. B: Begg’s funnel plots for all of the included studies reported with PFS, the dashed line represents 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Circles represent individual studies. Begg’s test: <i>P</i> = 0.880.</p

Silencing of NEDD9 resulted in reduced cell migration and invasion.

<p>NEDD9 was knocked down by siRNAs or shRNAs in cervical carcinoma SiHa and HeLa cells. (A) The interference effects were confirmed by quantitative PCR in SiHa and HeLa cells. Expression of NEDD9 was examined by Western blotting in SiHa (B) and HeLa cells (C). Cells were infected with lentiviral vectors encoding shRNA against NEDD9. The results of Transwell assay showed that lentiviral delivery of shRNA targeting NEDD9 resulted in reduced cell invasion (D) and migration (E) in SiHa and HeLa cells. The results of Scratch wound-healing assay further verified that silencing NEDD9 resulted in reduced cell migration (F, G and H). Scale bar, 100 μm. * <i>P</i> < 0.05.</p