Emerging Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in Gastric Cancer

With over 1 million incidence cases and more than 780,000 deaths in 2018, gastric cancer (GC) was ranked as the 5th most common cancer and the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Though several biomarkers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and cancer antigen 72-4 (CA72-4), have been identified, their diagnostic accuracies were modest. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cells derived from tumors and present in body fluids, have recently emerged as promising biomarkers, diagnostically and prognostically, of cancers, including GC. In this review, we present the landscape of CTCs from migration, to the presence in circulation, biologic properties, and morphologic heterogeneities. We evaluated clinical implications of CTCs in GC patients, including diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic management, as well as their application in immunotherapy. On the one hand, major challenges in using CTCs in GC were analyzed, from the differences of cut-off values of CTC positivity, to techniques used for sampling, storage conditions, and CTC molecular markers, as well as the unavailability of relevant enrichment and detection techniques. On the other hand, we discussed future perspectives of using CTCs in GC management and research, including the use of circulating tumor microembolies; of CTC checkpoint blockade in immunotherapy; and of organoid models. Despite the fact that there are remaining challenges in techniques, CTCs have potential as novel biomarkers and/or a non-invasive method for diagnostics, prognostics, and treatment monitoring of GC, particularly in the era of precision medicine

Experimental Design, Equilibrium Modeling and Kinetic Studies on the Adsorption of Methylene Blue by Adsorbent: Activated Carbon from Durian Shell Waste

For the first time, activated carbon from a durian shell (ACDS) activated by H2SO4 was successfully synthesized in the present study. The fabricated ACDS has a porous surface with a specific surface area of 348.0017 m2·g−1, average capillary volume of 0.153518 cm3·g−1, the average pore diameter of 4.3800 nm; ash level of 55.63%; humidity of 4.74%; density of 0.83 g·cm−3; an iodine index of 634 mg·g−1; and an isoelectric point of 6.03. Several factors affecting Methylene Blue (MB) adsorption capacity of ACDS activated carbon was investigated by the static adsorption method, revealing that the adsorption equilibrium was achieved after 90 min. The best adsorbent pH for MB is 7 and the mass/volume ratio is equal to 2.5 g·L−1. The MB adsorption process of ACDS activated carbon follows the Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, and Elovich isotherm adsorption model, which has determined the maximum adsorption capacity for MB of ACDS as qmax = 57.47 mg·g−1. The MB adsorption process of ACDS follows the of pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic equation. The Weber and Morris Internal Diffusion Model, the Hameed and Daud External Diffusion Model of liquids have been studied to see if the surface phase plays any role in the adsorption process. The results of thermodynamic calculation of the adsorption process show that the adsorption process is dominated by chemical adsorption and endothermic. The obtained results provide an insight for potential applications of ACDS in the treatment of water contaminated by dyes

Utilizing the theory of planned behavior to predict COVID-19 vaccination intention: A structural equational modeling approach

It is essential to achieve herd immunity in order to control the COVID-19 pandemic, and this requires a high level of vaccination rate. Despite the importance of vaccination, hesitancy and unwillingness in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine still exists. It is therefore crucial to comprehend the intentions of adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination, which is beneficial for establishing community immunity and an efficient future pandemic response. An online survey was administered to 2722 adults in Vietnam. Cronbach's alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the reliability and validity of the developed scales. Then, structural equational modeling (SEM) was employed to test correlations. This study found that favorable attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines played the most important role in shaping adults' intention to receive these vaccines, followed by perceived behavioral control, perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccines, and subjective norms. Concurrently, all three core dimensions of the theory of planned behavior mediated the link between the perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccines and the intention to receive them. Also, there were significant differences between males and females in the way they formed this intention. The findings of this study offer valuable guidance for practitioners on how to encourage adults to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as how to limit the transmission of the COVID-19 virus

Purification and Characterization of High Purity Nano Zirconia by Liquid-Liquid Extraction Using D2EHPA/p-Xylenes

In this paper, Zr(IV) nitrate solution decomposed from Viet Nam zircon concentrate was the source of zirconium extraction by liquid-liquid extraction (L.L.E). The FT-IR and UV-Vis spectra confirmed the extraction of Zr(IV) by D2EHPA/p-xylenes. There were four stages for the purification of impurities from the Zr matrix. First, the extraction of elements in 3.0 M HNO3 by 50% D2EHPA/p-xylenes was conducted. Second, two scrubbing cycles of impurities using 6.0 M HNO3, 76.5% of the total amount of Zr(IV) were retained in the organic phase, and 23.5% remained in the aqueous phase. Third, the stripping of a macro amount of zirconium from loaded D2EHPA has been effectively carried out using 1.5 M H2SO4 with a stripping efficiency of 99.6%. Fourth, concentrated ammonia was added to the solution Zr(IV) after stripping extraction to form precipitate for calcination at 550 °C for the final products. The refined products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), EDS, XRF, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The ZrO2 has high purity, is nanospherical, and has a uniform sphere-like morphology with small grain size of less than 30 nm and a bandgap value of about 3.30 eV

Ce3+/Ce4+-Doped ZrO2/CuO Nanocomposite for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue under Visible Light

In recent years, photocatalysis has been used as an environmentally friendly method for the degradation of organic pigments in water. In this study, Ce3+/Ce4+-doped ZrO2/CuO as a mixed semiconductor oxide was successfully prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method. The Ce3+/Ce4+-doped ZrO2/CuO has shown high degradation efficiency of methylene blue (MB), and the maximum degradation percentage was observed to be 94.5% at 180 min under irradiation visible light. The photocatalytic activity increases significantly by doping Ce3+/Ce4+ in ZrO2/CuO for MB degradation. Ce3+/Ce4+ doping is shown to reduce the (e-/h+) recombination rate and improve the charge transfer, leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity of materials. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FTIR, EDS, BET and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS)

Histopathological Alterations in the Livers of Chronic Hepatitis Patients Exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin in Vietnam

We investigated changes in some laboratory indices and the liver histology of chronic hepatitis patients who were exposed to dioxin. In 2014, we collected liver biopsy samples for histopathological examination from 33 chronic hepatitis patients living around the Da Nang Airbase, which is a dioxin-contaminated area due to the herbicide spraying in Vietnam. Dioxin exposure was measured by its levels in the blood. METAVIR classification was used to clarify the liver fibrosis stage. Laboratory tests included ten biochemical and six hematological indices that were measured in the blood. A regression linear model and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. The observed alterations in the liver at the histological level mainly comprised hydropic degenerative hepatocytes, lymphocytes and polynuclear leukocytes surrounding the liver cells and granular and lipoic degeneration. In addition, increased TCDD levels were associated with increasing aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase, protein and total bilirubin levels and liver fibrosis stage. Similarly, increased TEQ-PCDD/Fs levels were associated with higher levels of AST and protein and liver fibrosis stage. In conclusion, dioxin exposure altered the liver histology and increased some biochemical marker indices and the liver fibrosis stage of chronic hepatitis patients living in dioxin-contaminated areas in Da Nang, Vietnam