Short-term outcomes of robot-assisted versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for non-small cell lung cancer patients with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy: a single-center retrospective study

BackgroundNeoadjuvant immunochemotherapy has been increasingly applied to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the comparison between robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in the feasibility and oncological efficacy following neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy is scarce. This study aims to assess the superiorities of RATS over (VATS) concerning short-term outcomes in treating NSCLC patients with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy.MethodsNSCLC patients receiving RATS or VATS lobectomy following neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy at Shanghai Chest Hospital from 2019 to 2022 were retrospectively identified. Baseline clinical characteristics, perioperative outcomes, and survival profiles were analyzed.ResultsForty-six NSCLC patients with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy were included and divided into the RATS (n=15) and VATS (n=31) groups. The baseline clinical characteristics and induction-related adverse events were comparable between the two groups (all p>0.050). The 30-day mortality in the RATS and VATS groups were 0% and 3.23%, respectively (p=1.000). Patients undergoing RATS were associated with reduced surgical-related intensive unit care (ICU) stay than those receiving VATS (0.0 [0.0-0.0] vs. 0.0 [0.0-1.0] days, p=0.026). Moreover, RATS assessed more N1 LNs (6.27 ± 1.94 vs 4.90 ± 1.92, p=0.042) and LN stations (3.07 ± 1.03 vs 2.52 ± 0.57, p=0.038) compared with VATS. By comparison, no difference was found in surgical outcomes, pathological results, and postoperative complications between the RATS and VATS groups (all p>0.050). Finally, RATS and VATS achieved comparable one-year recurrence-free survival (82.96% vs. 85.23%, p=0.821) and the timing of central nervous system, LN, and bone recurrences (all p>0.050).ConclusionRATS is safe and feasible for NSCLC patients with neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy, reducing surgical-related ICU stay, assessing increased N1 LNs and stations, and achieving similar survival profiles to VATS

Influence of bearing capacity of oil tank on evaporation loss of oil products

If the oil vapor from the tanks is discharged into the atmosphere, the environment pollution will be caused and the human health will be threated. Definitely, pressure and temperature changes are the main factors causing evaporation of oil products in the tank. As for the breathing loss of oil tanks, the formula concerning the minimal reduction rate of the breathing loss of pressure tanks was derived based on the API theoretical formula, so as to reduce the breathing loss, even to completely eliminate the small breathing loss, by controlling the pressure with a breather valve of oil tank. According to the analysis on influence of temperature change on expansion factor of monomer hydrocarbon (propane, n-butane, isobutene, n-pentane and n-hexane) and various oil products (93# gasoline, 97# gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil and Panyu crude oil), the results show that when the storage pressure of the tanks is designed for oil products of different types and compositions, tank with different design pressure shall be adopted. In addition, appropriate type of breather valve can be used, or the tank wall can be thickened to increase the control factor, further to reduce the breathing loss of tank. The research results could be used as theoretical reference for oil tank design and oil depot management

Numerical simulation of oil vapor leakage and diffusion from inner floating roof tank based on wind tunnel platform experiment

Study on the law of oil vapor leakage and diffusion in inner floating roof tanks is of great significance for strengthening environmental pollution control and ensuring tank farm safety. The wind tunnel test platform was established to test the effects of wind speed and floating plate position on evaporation loss rate of small inner floating roof tank, and the distribution laws of wind field and concentration field were investigated. Based on CFD numerical simulation, the UDF was used to introduce environmental wind, the numerical model of oil vapor leakage and diffusion from inner floating roof tank was established, and the feasibility of the simulation was verified by wind tunnel experimental data. The distribution law of wind field and wind pressure outside the inner floating roof tank, as well as the influence of wind speed on the flow field distribution and the diffusion concentration of oil vapor in the inner floating roof tank, was emphatically discussed. The results show that the lower the floating plate position and the higher the wind speed, the faster the evaporation rate will be. The static pressure distributed on the tank wall is as follows: highest on windward wall, medium on leeward wall and lowest on the two side walls. Under different wind speeds, the distribution of oil vapor on the tank is symmetrical. The lower the wind speed, the higher the oil vapor mass concentration will be. The oil vapor concentration at the gap between floating plates is the highest, leaving hidden dangers of safety and environmental pollution. The research results are of reference value for the design, operation and maintenance of the inner floating roof tank and environmental protection and safety management

Influence of pressure and temperature on the toluene desorption from activated carbon under supercritical CO2

Desorption of activated carbon saturated with VOCs (volatile organic compounds) under supercritical CO2 is greatly affected by pressure and temperature, and the influence mechanism remains ambiguous. In this paper, toluene is considered as the representative of VOC, influence of pressure and temperature on the toluene desorption ratio is investigated by experimental and molecular dynamic simulation methods. The experimental results show that the toluene desorption ratio increases as pressure increases, but the influence of temperature on the toluene desorption ratio is affected by pressure. The desorption ratio decreases with increasing temperature at lower pressure, while the desorption ratio increases at the beginning but then decreases with increasing temperature at higher pressure. The mechanism analysis presents that the influence of pressure is governed by “density effect”, the influence of temperature is governed by “density effect” and “diffusion effect” together, the final result is determined by the competition between the two effects

Graphene-Assisted Thermal Interface Materials with a Satisfied Interface Contact Level Between the Matrix and Fillers

Abstract Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and three-dimensional graphene networks (3DGNs) are adopted to improve the performance of thermal interface materials (TIMs). Therein, the 3DGNs provide a fast transport network for phonons, while the RGO plays as a bridge to enhance the phonon transport ability at the interface between the filler and matrix. The types of surface functional groups of the RGO are found to exert a remarkable influence on the resulting thermal performance; the carboxyl groups are found in the optimal selection to promote the transport process at the interface area because a strong chemical bond will form between the graphene basal plane and epoxy resin (ER) through this kind of group. The resulting thermal conductivity reaches 6.7 Wm−1 K−1 after optimizing the mass fraction and morphology of the filler, which is 3250% higher than that of the pristine ER. Moreover, the mechanical properties of these as-prepared TIMs are also detected, and the specimens by using the RGO(OOH) filler display the better performances

Graphene Modified TiO2 Composite Photocatalysts: Mechanism, Progress and Perspective

Graphene modified TiO2 composite photocatalysts have drawn increasing attention because of their high performance. Some significant advancements have been achieved with the continuous research, such as the corresponding photocatalytic mechanism that has been revealed. Specific influencing factors have been discovered and potential optimizing methods are proposed. The latest developments in graphene assisted TiO2 composite photocatalysts are abstracted and discussed. Based on the primary reasons behind the observed phenomena of these composite photocatalysts, probable development directions and further optimizing strategies are presented. Moreover, several novel detective technologies—beyond the decomposition test—which can be used to judge the photocatalytic performances of the resulting photocatalysts are listed and analyzed. Although some objectives have been achieved, new challenges still exist and hinder the widespread application of graphene-TiO2 composite photocatalysts, which deserves further study