The Effects of Salt Type and Salt Concentration on the Performance of Magnetically Activated Nanofiltration Membranes

The effects of salt ion type and salt concentration on flux and rejection improvement of magnetically activated micromixer nanofiltration membranes were investigated. Polymers with varying chain length and chain density were grafted on the NF270 membranes using the well-controlled atom transfer radical polymerization reaction. Superparamagnetic nanoparticles that respond to an oscillating magnetic field were conjugated at the polymer chain ends. The effects of micromixing on breaking the concentration polarization boundary layer were investigated by determining the percentage improvement in flux and rejection in the presence of an external oscillating field. Systematic trends on the salt ion size and feed concentration as well as grafting degrees were observed. The magnetically activated micromixers are more effective in breaking down severer concentration polarization when the charge and concentration of the salt ions are higher. In addition, higher density and longer polymer chains induce stronger micromixing effects

DataSheet_1_The coexistence of myosteatosis and the creatinine/cystatin C ratio are determinants of outcomes in cholangiocarcinoma patients undergoing curative surgery.docx

BackgroundMyosteatosis is a well-established predictor of poor prognosis in many types of cancer, and a decreased Creatinine/Cystatin C ratio (CCR) is a known indicator of unfavorable outcomes in patients with metabolic disorders and cancer. Despite this knowledge, the significance of concurrent CCR and myosteatosis in predicting the prognosis of patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) who undergo radical surgery remains uncertain.MethodData from 757 patients with cholangiocarcinoma who underwent the first radical resection in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2017 to March 2022 were collected. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 149 patients were finally included in the retrospective study cohort. Various clinicopathological, serological, and radiological data were collected at admission. Myosteatosis was evaluated using sliceOmatic software on computed tomography (CT) images. The study used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to determine the critical value of CCR, which predicts overall survival (OS) based on the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to identify the risk factors associated with OS and RFS confidently.ResultsThe group identified as the myosteatosis cohort consisted of 79 patients with an average age of 64.3 ± 7.8 years. The ROC curve analysis revealed an optimal critical CCR value of 10.834. A low CCR ≤ 10.834 and myosteatosis were found to be associated with poor OS and RFS outcomes (P = 0.022; P = 0.017; P = 0.038; P = 0.030 respectively). Moreover, patients with myosteatosis and a CCR ≤ 10.834 had the worst OS and RFS outcomes (P = 0.035; P = 0.027).ConclusionAfter radical excision in CCA patients, the presence of myosteatosis and CCR had a negative correlation with prognosis. A more accurate prediction of OS and RFS was possible by combining CCR and myosteatosis, compared to CCR alone.</p

Table_1_Molecular classification of human papillomavirus-positive cervical cancers based on immune signature enrichment.XLSX

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) cervical cancers are highly heterogeneous in clinical and molecular characteristics. Thus, an investigation into their heterogeneous immunological profiles is meaningful in providing both biological and clinical insights into this disease.MethodsBased on the enrichment of 29 immune signatures, we discovered immune subtypes of HPV+ cervical cancers by hierarchical clustering. To explore whether this subtyping method is reproducible, we analyzed three bulk and one single cell transcriptomic datasets. We also compared clinical and molecular characteristics between the immune subtypes.ResultsClustering analysis identified two immune subtypes of HPV+ cervical cancers: Immunity-H and Immunity-L, consistent in the four datasets. In comparisons with Immunity-L, Immunity-H displayed stronger immunity, more stromal contents, lower tumor purity, proliferation potential, intratumor heterogeneity and stemness, higher tumor mutation burden, more neoantigens, lower levels of copy number alterations, lower DNA repair activity, as well as better overall survival prognosis. Certain genes, such as MUC17, PCLO, and GOLGB1, showed significantly higher mutation rates in Immunity-L than in Immunity-H. 16 proteins were significantly upregulated in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L, including Caspase-7, PREX1, Lck, C-Raf, PI3K-p85, Syk, 14-3-3_epsilon, STAT5-α, GATA3, Src_pY416, NDRG1_pT346, Notch1, PDK1_pS241, Bim, NF-kB-p65_pS536, and p53. Pathway analysis identified numerous immune-related pathways more highly enriched in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L, including cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, antigen processing and presentation, T/B cell receptor signaling, chemokine signaling, supporting the stronger antitumor immunity in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L.ConclusionHPV+ cervical cancers are divided into two subgroups based on their immune signatures' enrichment. Both subgroups have markedly different tumor immunity, progression phenotypes, genomic features, and clinical outcomes. Our data offer novel perception in the tumor biology as well as clinical implications for HPV+ cervical cancer.</p

Table_2_Molecular classification of human papillomavirus-positive cervical cancers based on immune signature enrichment.XLSX

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus-positive (HPV+) cervical cancers are highly heterogeneous in clinical and molecular characteristics. Thus, an investigation into their heterogeneous immunological profiles is meaningful in providing both biological and clinical insights into this disease.MethodsBased on the enrichment of 29 immune signatures, we discovered immune subtypes of HPV+ cervical cancers by hierarchical clustering. To explore whether this subtyping method is reproducible, we analyzed three bulk and one single cell transcriptomic datasets. We also compared clinical and molecular characteristics between the immune subtypes.ResultsClustering analysis identified two immune subtypes of HPV+ cervical cancers: Immunity-H and Immunity-L, consistent in the four datasets. In comparisons with Immunity-L, Immunity-H displayed stronger immunity, more stromal contents, lower tumor purity, proliferation potential, intratumor heterogeneity and stemness, higher tumor mutation burden, more neoantigens, lower levels of copy number alterations, lower DNA repair activity, as well as better overall survival prognosis. Certain genes, such as MUC17, PCLO, and GOLGB1, showed significantly higher mutation rates in Immunity-L than in Immunity-H. 16 proteins were significantly upregulated in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L, including Caspase-7, PREX1, Lck, C-Raf, PI3K-p85, Syk, 14-3-3_epsilon, STAT5-α, GATA3, Src_pY416, NDRG1_pT346, Notch1, PDK1_pS241, Bim, NF-kB-p65_pS536, and p53. Pathway analysis identified numerous immune-related pathways more highly enriched in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L, including cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, antigen processing and presentation, T/B cell receptor signaling, chemokine signaling, supporting the stronger antitumor immunity in Immunity-H vs. Immunity-L.ConclusionHPV+ cervical cancers are divided into two subgroups based on their immune signatures' enrichment. Both subgroups have markedly different tumor immunity, progression phenotypes, genomic features, and clinical outcomes. Our data offer novel perception in the tumor biology as well as clinical implications for HPV+ cervical cancer.</p