Endocrinologic, neurologic, and visual morbidity after treatment for craniopharyngioma

Craniopharyngiomas are locally aggressive tumors which typically are focused in the sellar and suprasellar region near a number of critical neural and vascular structures mediating endocrinologic, behavioral, and visual functions. The present study aims to summarize and compare the published literature regarding morbidity resulting from treatment of craniopharyngioma. We performed a comprehensive search of the published English language literature to identify studies publishing outcome data of patients undergoing surgery for craniopharyngioma. Comparisons of the rates of endocrine, vascular, neurological, and visual complications were performed using Pearson’s chi-squared test, and covariates of interest were fitted into a multivariate logistic regression model. In our data set, 540 patients underwent surgical resection of their tumor. 138 patients received biopsy alone followed by some form of radiotherapy. Mean overall follow-up for all patients in these studies was 54 ± 1.8 months. The overall rate of new endocrinopathy for all patients undergoing surgical resection of their mass was 37% (95% CI = 33–41). Patients receiving GTR had over 2.5 times the rate of developing at least one endocrinopathy compared to patients receiving STR alone or STR + XRT (52 vs. 19 vs. 20%, χ2P < 0.00001). On multivariate analysis, GTR conferred a significant increase in the risk of endocrinopathy compared to STR + XRT (OR = 3.45, 95% CI = 2.05–5.81, P < 0.00001), after controlling for study size and the presence of significant hypothalamic involvement. There was a statistical trend towards worse visual outcomes in patients receiving XRT after STR compared to GTR or STR alone (GTR = 3.5% vs. STR 2.1% vs. STR + XRT 6.4%, P = 0.11). Given the difficulty in obtaining class 1 data regarding the treatment of this tumor, this study can serve as an estimate of expected outcomes for these patients, and guide decision making until these data are available

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Aging Processes in Lithiated FeSn2 Based Negative Electrode for Li- Ion Batteries: A New Challenge for Tin Based Intermetallic Materials

Tin-based intermetallic compounds proposed as negative electrode materials for Li-ion batteries not only suffer from capacity fade during cycling due to volume variations but also from aging phenomena in lithiated states. By using FeSn2 as a model compound, we propose an analysis of this process by combining electrochemical potential measurements, 119Sn and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopies, magnetic measurements, and impedance spectroscopy. We show that the Fe/Li7Sn2 composite obtained at the end of the first discharge is progressively transformed during the aging process occurring within the electrochemical cell in open circuit condition. The Fe nanoparticles are stable while the Li7Sn2 nanoparticles are progressively delithiated with time leading to Sn-rich LixSn nanoalloys without observable back reaction with Fe. The deinserted lithium atoms react with the electrolyte and modify the surface electrode interphase (SEI) by increasing its thickness and/or decreasing its porosit

Application of Mössbauer Spectroscopy to Li-Ion and Na-Ion Batteries

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Photovoltage method for the research of CdS and ZnO nanoparticles and hybrid MEH-PPV/nanoparticle structures

The paper demonstrates an application of photovoltaic effect in the research of nanomaterials and hybrid structures of polymers with nanoparticles. Photovoltage (PV) measurement was utilized for estimating the size of CdS and ZnO nanoparticles and diagnostics of hybrid structures with poly[2-methoxy-5-(2- ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), namely nano-CdS/MEH-PPV and nano-ZnO/MEH-PPV. CdS average nanocrystal diameters 4.0 and 4.8 nm were calculated from the onset values of energies corresponding to the steep increase in the PV signals using the effective mass model. The range of size of ZnO particles was from about 5 up to 50 nm. Nanoparticle distribution obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements shows that the calculated diameters agree fairly well with the size of nanoparticles with the highest occurrence. The PV spectrum represents a sum of the spectra corresponding to the various nanoparticle sizes. The distribution of the nanoparticles was also obtained by a simple mathematical treatment of the PV spectra, and agreement with the results of TEM was found. PV and TEM measurements were performed on commercial CdS and ZnO nanoparticles and on CdS nanoparticles prepared in our laboratory. We employ triethanolamine as a protective agent to cover the surface of CdS nanoparticles. Nano-CdS/MEH-PPV and nano-ZnO/MeH-PPV hybrid structures were prepared, and influence of the particles on charge transport was shown by the PV spectra measurements. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media