Preparation and characterization of polypropylene/silica composite particle with interpenetrating network via hot emulsion sol–gel approach

AbstractA novel interpenetrating structural ultrafine polypropylene-silica nanocomposite particles were synthesized by a modified sol–gel approach in the presence of the melt polypropylene emulsion. A series of samples with different polypropylene content was prepared to investigate the unique characteristics of this original nanocomposite. The thermal gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the nanocomposites had the interpenetrating structure and good thermal stability, and the crystallization behavior of polypropylene was confined by the silica matrix. The interpenetrating structure of nanocomposites was also suggested by the nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurement results. The scanning electronic microscope and transmission electron microscopy images indicated that the nanocomposites had irregular particle morphology. The nanoparticle tracking analysis results show that the mean size of the nanocomposites was around 160nm. According to the results obtained from different measurements, a reasonable formation mechanism was proposed

Analysis of the influencing factors in the long-term survival of esophageal cancer

BackgroundTo analyze the prognosis and diagnostic value of relevant hematological indexes on the survival status of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after radical surgery.MethodsThis study included 206 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent surgical R0 resection. The data, including the basic information, preoperative blood routine, albumin, fibrinogen, surgery-related information, postoperative pathology, and overall survival, of the patients were compared.ResultsThe survival and death groups showed a significant difference in overall survival (OS), the degree of differentiation, depth of infiltration, pathological stage, vascular infiltration, nerve infiltration, fibrinogen, white blood cell, neutrophils, platelet, and platelet hematocrit (P<0.05). Tumor located in the middle thorax, larger lesion length, deeper invasion, later pathological stage, vascular infiltration, nerve infiltration, lymph node metastasis, cardiovascular disease, and higher smoking grade were risk factors for poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (P<0.05). Cardiovascular disease, lower differentiation, tumor located in the middle thorax, and nerve infiltration were independent risk factors for the reduction of survival time of patients with ESCC (P<0.05).ConclusionsHistory of cardiovascular disease, tumor located in the middle chest, poorly differentiated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, visible nerve cancer invasion, hematocrit (HCT), mean erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and hemoglobin (HB) are independent risk factors for the long-term survival of patients with ESCC

Incidence, clinical characteristics and prognosis of tumor lysis syndrome following B-cell maturation antigen-targeted chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma

Background aimsB-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted chimeric antigen receptor-T cell (CAR-T) therapy is used for refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma (r/r MM). However, CAR-T-related tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) has been observed. We aimed to elucidate the incidence, clinical and laboratory characteristics, and prognosis of CAR-T cell-related TLS.MethodsPatients (n=105) with r/r MM treated with BCMA-targeted CAR-T cell therapy were included. Patient characteristics, laboratory parameters, and clinical outcomes were assessed.ResultsEighteen (17.1%) patients developed TLS after BCMA-targeted CAR-T cell therapy. The median time till TLS onset was 8 days. Patients with TLS had steep rise in uric acid (UA), creatinine, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) within 6 days following CAR-T cell infusion and presented earlier and persistent escalation of cytokines (C-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], interferon-γ [IFN-γ], and ferritin levels). All 18 patients had cytokine release syndrome (CRS), of which 13 (72.2%) developed grade 3–4 CRS. Three of 18 patients (16.7%) developed immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS): two patients with grade 1 ICANS and one with grade 2 ICANS. TLS development had a negative effect on the objective response rate (77.8% in the TLS group vs. 95.4% in the non-TLS group, p<0.01). During the median follow-up of 15.1 months, the median PFS was poorer of patients with TLS (median: 3.4 months in the TLS group vs. 14.7 months in the non-TLS group, p<0.001, hazard ratio [HR]=3.5 [95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–8.5]). Also, TLS development exhibited significant effects on OS (median: 5.0 months in the TLS group vs. 39.8 months in the non-TLS group, p<0.001, hazard ratio [HR]=3.7 [95% CI 1.3–10.3]). TLS was associated with a higher tumor burden, elevated baseline creatinine and UA levels, severe CRS, pronounced CAR-T cell expansion, and corticosteroid use.ConclusionTLS is a frequently observed CAR-T therapy complication and negatively influences clinical response and prognosis. Close monitoring for TLS should be implemented during CAR-T cell therapy, especially for those at high TLS risk

The functional and structural alterations of the striatum in chronic spontaneous urticaria

The brain has long been known to be the regulation center of itch, but the neuropathology of chronic itch, such as chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to explore the brain areas involved in the pathophysiology of CSU in hopes that our results may provide valuable insights into the treatment of chronic itch conditions. 40 CSU patients and 40 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Urticaria activity scores 7 (UAS7) were collected to evaluate patient’s clinical symptoms. Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis were used to assess brain activity and related plasticity. Compared with HCs, CSU patients exhibited 1) higher ALFF values in the right ventral striatum / putamen, which were positively associated with clinical symptoms as measured by UAS7; 2) gray matter volume (GMV) increase in the right ventral striatum and putamen; and 3) decreased rs-FC between the right ventral striatum and the right occipital cortex and between the right putamen and the left precentral gyrus. Using multiple-modality brain imaging tools, we demonstrated the dysfunction of the striatum in CSU. Our results may provide valuable insights into the neuropathology and development of chronic itch

Dynamic Decomposition Analysis and Forecasting of Energy Consumption in Shanxi Province Based on VAR and GM (1, 1) Models

Environmental issues caused by energy consumption have attracted increasing attention recently. Shanxi Province, a typical energy-dominated region in China, has long-term dependency on coal industry generating extensive economic growth, which is detrimental to green development. Distinguished from previous studies ignoring driving factors of energy consumption, this paper establishes a vector autoregression (VAR) model to dynamically identify the drivers of energy consumption based on STIRPAT model in Shanxi Province from 1990 to 2015. It can be obtained from the impulse response analysis that a positive shock in population, GDP, and urbanization level, respectively, positively affect energy consumption, and a positive change in technology negatively affects energy consumption in the long run. The variance decomposition results indicate that fluctuation in energy consumption explained by the innovation of the urbanization level accounts for 23.18%, which plays a prevailing role in increasing energy consumption. Meanwhile, the forecasting results of GM (1,1) model manifest that energy consumption in Shanxi Province generally has an increasing trend from 2016 to 2025. Consequently, Shanxi can achieve green development through optimizing energy structure, promoting the transformation of resource-based cities, and promoting low-carbon technological innovation. This paper can be available for other resource-based regions analogous to Shanxi

Decomposition and Forecasting of CO₂ Emissions in China’s Power Sector Based on STIRPAT Model with Selected PLS Model and a Novel Hybrid PLS-Grey-Markov Model

China faces significant challenges related to global warming caused by CO2 emissions, and the power industry is a large CO2 emitter. The decomposition and accurate forecasting of CO2 emissions in China’s power sector are thus crucial for low-carbon outcomes. This paper selects seven socio-economic and technological drivers related to the power sector, and decomposes CO2 emissions based on two models: the extended stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) model and the partial least square (PLS) model. Distinguished from previous research, our study first compares the effects of eliminating the multicollinearity of the PLS model with stepwise regression and ridge regression, finding that PLS is superior. Further, the decomposition results show the factors’ absolute elasticity coefficients are population (2.58) > line loss rate (1.112) > GDP per capita (0.669) > generation structure (0.522) > the urbanization level (0.512) > electricity intensity (0.310) > industrial structure (0.060). Meanwhile, a novel hybrid PLS-Grey-Markov model is proposed, and is verified to have better precision for the CO2 emissions of the power sector compared to the selected models, such as ridge regression-Grey-Markov, PLS-Grey-Markov, PLS-Grey and PLS-BP (Back propagation neutral network model). The forecast results suggest that CO2 emissions of the power sector will increase to 5102.9 Mt by 2025. Consequently, policy recommendations are proposed to achieve low-carbon development in aspects of population, technology, and economy

An Investment Feasibility Analysis of CCS Retrofit Based on a Two-Stage Compound Real Options Model

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is an attractive technique to help power enterprises with carbon emission reduction. In this paper, a two-stage CCS retrofit investment in an existing coal-fired power plant in China including the first stage (demonstration project) and second stage (commercial operation) is taken as a case to decide when and whether to invest. Distinguished from previous models, a binomial lattice compound real options model including the options to defer and expand is established. Further, the accounting approaches to certified emission reductions (CERs) based on the thermodynamics principle are first proposed concerning this model. We find the total invest value under compound options model is less than zero, although greater than that by NPV method. The results indicate carbon prices and subsidy policy, respectively, play a dominating role in initiating the CCS investment at the first and second stage. The growth in government subsidy at the first stage has obviously greater effects on decreasing critical carbon trading prices. Besides, the minimum critical carbon price is 87.09 RMB/ton with full subsidy, greater than the current price (56 RMB/ton). This also illustrates it is not the optimal occasion to invest in a CCS retrofit project for power enterprises