Table_1_Diagnostic performance of elastosonography in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant salivary gland tumors: A meta-analysis.doc

PurposeThe clinical practice of elastosonography for the detection of salivary gland tumors is still a controversial issue. The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of elastosonography for the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors and to compare the diagnostic value of elastosonography and conventional ultrasound in the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors.MethodsA comprehensive literature search through PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library was carried out from inception to November 2021. Two researchers independently extracted the data from the enrolled papers using a standard data extraction form. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance of elastosonography. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies—2 (QUADAS-2) tool was utilized to evaluate the quality of each included study. Meta-DiSc version 1.4, Review Manager 5.3, and StataSE 15 were used.ResultsSixteen studies with a total of 1105 patients with 1146 lesions were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and DOR of elastosonography for the differentiation between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors were 0.73 (95%CI, 0.66–0.78), 0.64 (95%CI, 0.61–0.67), 2.83 (95%CI, 1.97–4.07), 0.45 (95%CI, 0.32–0.62), and 9.86 (95%CI, 4.49–21.62), respectively, with an AUC of 0.82. Four studies provided data regarding the conventional ultrasound for the differentiation between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR were 0.62 (95%CI, 0.50–0.73), 0.93 (95%CI, 0.90–0.96), and 25.07 (95%CI, 4.28–146.65), respectively. The meta-regression and subgroup analyses found that assessment methods were associated with significant heterogeneity, and quantitative or semiquantitative elastosonography performed better than the qualitative one.ConclusionsElastosonography showed a limited value for diagnosing malignant salivary gland tumors; it could be considered as a supplementary diagnostic technology to conventional ultrasound, and quantitative or semiquantitative elastosonography was superior to the qualitative one.</p

Table_2_Diagnostic performance of elastosonography in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant salivary gland tumors: A meta-analysis.doc

PurposeThe clinical practice of elastosonography for the detection of salivary gland tumors is still a controversial issue. The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of elastosonography for the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors and to compare the diagnostic value of elastosonography and conventional ultrasound in the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors.MethodsA comprehensive literature search through PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library was carried out from inception to November 2021. Two researchers independently extracted the data from the enrolled papers using a standard data extraction form. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance of elastosonography. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies—2 (QUADAS-2) tool was utilized to evaluate the quality of each included study. Meta-DiSc version 1.4, Review Manager 5.3, and StataSE 15 were used.ResultsSixteen studies with a total of 1105 patients with 1146 lesions were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and DOR of elastosonography for the differentiation between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors were 0.73 (95%CI, 0.66–0.78), 0.64 (95%CI, 0.61–0.67), 2.83 (95%CI, 1.97–4.07), 0.45 (95%CI, 0.32–0.62), and 9.86 (95%CI, 4.49–21.62), respectively, with an AUC of 0.82. Four studies provided data regarding the conventional ultrasound for the differentiation between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and DOR were 0.62 (95%CI, 0.50–0.73), 0.93 (95%CI, 0.90–0.96), and 25.07 (95%CI, 4.28–146.65), respectively. The meta-regression and subgroup analyses found that assessment methods were associated with significant heterogeneity, and quantitative or semiquantitative elastosonography performed better than the qualitative one.ConclusionsElastosonography showed a limited value for diagnosing malignant salivary gland tumors; it could be considered as a supplementary diagnostic technology to conventional ultrasound, and quantitative or semiquantitative elastosonography was superior to the qualitative one.</p

DataSheet_2_Development and validation of an ultrasound-based radiomics nomogram for predicting the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with breast carcinoma.docx

IntroductionThe molecular subtype plays a significant role in breast carcinoma (BC), which is the main indicator to guide treatment and is closely associated with prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of an ultrasound-based radiomics nomogram in preoperatively discriminating the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with BC.MethodsA total of 264 BC patients who underwent routine ultrasound examination were enrolled in this study, of which 184 patients belonged to the training set and 80 patients to the test set. Breast tumors were delineated manually on the ultrasound images and then radiomics features were extracted. In the training set, the T test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were used for selecting features, and the radiomics score (Rad-score) for each patient was calculated. Based on the clinical risk features, Rad-score, and combined clinical risk features and Rad-score, three models were established, respectively. The performances of the models were validated with receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis.ResultsIn all, 788 radiomics features per case were obtained from the ultrasound images. Through radiomics feature selection, 11 features were selected to constitute the Rad-score. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the Rad-score for predicting the luminal type was 0.828 in the training set and 0.786 in the test set. The nomogram comprising the Rad-score and US-reported tumor size showed AUCs of the training and test sets were 0.832 and 0.767, respectively, which were significantly higher than the AUCs of the clinical model in the training and test sets (0.691 and 0.526, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in predictive performance between the Rad-score and nomogram.ConclusionBoth the Rad-score and nomogram can be applied as useful, noninvasive tools for preoperatively discriminating the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with BC. Furthermore, this study might provide a novel technique to evaluate molecular subtypes of BC.</p

DataSheet_1_Development and validation of an ultrasound-based radiomics nomogram for predicting the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with breast carcinoma.docx

IntroductionThe molecular subtype plays a significant role in breast carcinoma (BC), which is the main indicator to guide treatment and is closely associated with prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of an ultrasound-based radiomics nomogram in preoperatively discriminating the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with BC.MethodsA total of 264 BC patients who underwent routine ultrasound examination were enrolled in this study, of which 184 patients belonged to the training set and 80 patients to the test set. Breast tumors were delineated manually on the ultrasound images and then radiomics features were extracted. In the training set, the T test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were used for selecting features, and the radiomics score (Rad-score) for each patient was calculated. Based on the clinical risk features, Rad-score, and combined clinical risk features and Rad-score, three models were established, respectively. The performances of the models were validated with receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis.ResultsIn all, 788 radiomics features per case were obtained from the ultrasound images. Through radiomics feature selection, 11 features were selected to constitute the Rad-score. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the Rad-score for predicting the luminal type was 0.828 in the training set and 0.786 in the test set. The nomogram comprising the Rad-score and US-reported tumor size showed AUCs of the training and test sets were 0.832 and 0.767, respectively, which were significantly higher than the AUCs of the clinical model in the training and test sets (0.691 and 0.526, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in predictive performance between the Rad-score and nomogram.ConclusionBoth the Rad-score and nomogram can be applied as useful, noninvasive tools for preoperatively discriminating the luminal from non-luminal type in patients with BC. Furthermore, this study might provide a novel technique to evaluate molecular subtypes of BC.</p

‘Thermal substitution’ for preparing ternary BCN nanosheets with enhanced and controllable nonlinear optical performance

This paper contains methods and expanded descriptions

Solvent and pH Dependences of Mixing Enthalpies of <i>N</i>‑Glycylglycine with Protocatechuic Acid

Protocatechuic acid (PA) is a natural phenolic compound which has been proven to have chemopreventive property against chemically induced carcinogenesis. The mixing enthalpies of PA with <i>N</i>-glycylglycine in sodium phosphate and potassium phosphate buffer solutions with different pH values have been investigated by mixing-flow isothermal microcalorimetry at <i>T</i> = 298.15 K. The heterotactic enthalpic interaction coefficients (<i>h</i>_<i>xy</i>) in the pH range of phosphate buffer solution from 3.0 to 8.0 have been calculated according to the McMillan–Mayer theory. Trends of the enthalpic pairwise interaction coefficients (<i>h</i>_<i>xy</i>) with increasing pH in both phosphate buffer solutions were obtained. The solvent and pH dependence of the <i>h</i>_<i>xy</i> were discussed in terms of molecular interactions between solvated solute molecules

Legislative Documents

Also, variously referred to as: House bills; House documents; House legislative documents; legislative documents; General Court documents

Smooth Water-Based Antismudge Coatings for Various Substrates

Smooth particle-free antismudge coatings show potential for various applications because they are not prone to the limitations that plague rough self-cleaning surfaces such as poor durability and transparency. These smooth coatings are typically prepared from solvent-based precursors due to their requirement for amphiphobic moieties. We report herein a facile strategy to prepare from water-based precursors smooth antismudge coatings that can be readily applied onto various substrates including metal, wood, paper, and glass. These novel coatings exhibit unprecedented antismudge properties even with a thickness of only 5.0 ± 0.5 μm and contain only 0.7744 wt % of fluorinated polymer. In addition, these transparent coatings retain their antismudge properties even after they are subject to bending, impact, scratching, abrasion, corrosion, UV irradiation, and thermal shock tests

Smooth Water-Based Antismudge Coatings for Various Substrates

Smooth particle-free antismudge coatings show potential for various applications because they are not prone to the limitations that plague rough self-cleaning surfaces such as poor durability and transparency. These smooth coatings are typically prepared from solvent-based precursors due to their requirement for amphiphobic moieties. We report herein a facile strategy to prepare from water-based precursors smooth antismudge coatings that can be readily applied onto various substrates including metal, wood, paper, and glass. These novel coatings exhibit unprecedented antismudge properties even with a thickness of only 5.0 ± 0.5 μm and contain only 0.7744 wt % of fluorinated polymer. In addition, these transparent coatings retain their antismudge properties even after they are subject to bending, impact, scratching, abrasion, corrosion, UV irradiation, and thermal shock tests

Thermodynamic Difference between Protocatechualdehyde and <i>p</i>‑Hydroxybenzaldehyde in Aqueous Sodium Chloride Solutions

The enthalpies of dilution of protocatechualdehyde and <i>p</i>-hydroxybenzaldehyde in the aqueous sodium chloride solutions were measured by using a mixing-flow microcalorimeter at 298.15 K. Densities of the ternary homogeneous systems at different temperatures (293.15, 298.15, 303.15, 308.15, and 313.15 K) were also measured with a quartz vibrating-tube densimeter. The homogeneous enthalpic interaction coefficients (<i>h</i>₂, <i>h</i>₃, and <i>h</i>₄) were calculated according to the excess enthalpy concept based on the calorimetric data. The apparent molar volumes (<i>V</i>_ϕ) and standard partial molar volumes (<i>V</i>_ϕ⁰) of the investigated system were computed from their density data. The variation trends in <i>h</i>₂ and <i>V</i>_ϕ⁰ with increasing salt molality were obtained and discussed in terms of the (solute + solute) and (solute + solvent) interactions. The experimental results showed that the molecular structures of protocatechualdehyde and <i>p</i>-hydroxybenzaldehyde, especially the number of hydroxyl groups, have evident influence on their thermodynamic properties. The thermodynamic data obtained in this work may be helpful for exploring the structure–function relationship of protocatechualdehyde and <i>p</i>-hydroxybenzaldehyde