Amorphous photonic structures (APSs) with non-iridescent, non-fading, vivid structural colors have attracted great attention in several fields. Tremendous efforts have been dedicated to developing the effective and low-cost approaches for APSs with full-color displays. Resulting from the isotropic photonic pseudogap, APSs have non-iridescent structural colors. We demonstrate that incorporating Fe3O4@SiO2 black nanoparticles into the interspace of the periodically arranged SiO2 white nanospheres can synthesize APSs with different colors. The addition of Fe3O4@SiO2 black nanoparticles can enhance the saturation of the non-iridescent structural colors of the APSs by reducing the incoherent scattering in the visible spectrum. In this case, different non-iridescent colors originate from the different diameters of the SiO2 white nanospheres, and we obtained red, orange, yellow, green, and purple APSs with high reflective index successfully. The APSs with different colors may have potential applications in coatings, cosmetics, textiles, and displays. Moreover, as we use Fe3O4@SiO2 as the additive, APSs can be recycled through its magnetic property.

The relationship between alcohol drinking and the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is unknown. To investigate the prognostic value of alcohol drinking on NPC, this retrospective study was conducted on 1923 male NPC patients. Patients were classified as current, former and non-drinkers according to their drinking status. Furthermore, they were categorized as heavy drinkers and mild/none drinkers based on the intensity and duration of alcohol drinking. Survival outcomes were compared using Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model. We found that current drinkers had significantly lower overall survival (OS) rate (5-year OS: 70.2% vs. 76.4%, P < 0.001) and locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) rate (5-year LRFS: 69.3% vs. 77.5%, P < 0.001) compared with non-drinkers. Drinking ≥14 drinks/week, and drinking ≥20 years were both independent unfavorable prognostic factors for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–1.81, P = 0.022; HR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.09–1.75, P = 0.007). Stratified analyses further revealed that the negative impacts of alcohol were manifested mainly among older patients and among smokers. In conclusion, alcohol drinking is a useful predictor of prognosis in male NPC patients; drinkers, especially heavy drinkers have poorer prognosis.

The optimal surgical management of patients with leiomyosarcoma of inferior vena cava remains a controversy. From 1975 and 2009, five patients with leiomyosarcoma of inferior vena cava were treated at the Chinese PLA General Hospital and Beijing Shijitan Hospital. The age ranged 39-61 years and the duration of symptoms ranged from 18 to 36 months. Abdominal and back pain are the most common complaints. A combination of various imaging modalities is essential for treatment planning. R0, R1, R2, and biopsy only were accomplished in 2, 1, 1, and 1 case, respectively. Combined resections included inferior vena cava, right kidney, adrenal gland, psoas, colon, duodenal, gallbladder, liver, and/or aorta, without inferior vena cava reconstruction. No inferior vena cava-related postoperative complication was seen in our series.

Objective. Transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy (TELD) is an effective treatment for patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) with failure of conservative treatment. However, defects in the annulus fibrosus after TELD usually lead to a recurrence of LDH. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection has shown promising potential for the repair of injured tissues. The combination of TELD and PRP injection has rarely been reported. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, disc remodeling, and recurrence rate of LDH in TELD with or without PRP in LDH treatment. Methods. A total of 108 consecutive patients who underwent TELD were prospectively registered between July 2018 and December 2019 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/ChiCTR1800017228). Fifty-one and fifty-seven patients underwent TELD with PRP injections and TELD only, respectively. The visual analog scale (VAS) score for back and leg pain, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and MacNab criteria were evaluated, and perioperative complications were documented. The disc protrusion, spinal cross-sectional area (SCSA), and disc height were measured on MRI and evaluated preoperatively, postoperatively, and at regular follow-up. Results. All patients were followed up. Clinical improvement was noted in both groups. There were statistical differences in the VAS scores of back and leg pain and ODI between the two groups at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year follow-up ( P < 0.05 ); the improvement in the PRP group was significant. The disc protrusion and SCSA on MRI in the PRP group showed better improvement, with lower recurrence rate, than that in the control group at the final follow-up ( P < 0.05 ). No adverse events were reported in our study following PRP injection. Conclusion. Our study showed that TELD with PRP injection was a safe and effective treatment for patients with LDH in the medium and long-term follow-up. PRP injection was beneficial for disc remodeling after endoscopic discectomy and decreased the recurrence of LDH.

High Ki76 expression has prognostic value for poor survival for RHCC patients, and detection of Ki67 with IHC may be promising for estimating survival for RHCC patients in areas with high-incidence for this disease in China.

There is evidence for two subpopulations among circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), i.e., CD34 + -EPCs and CD14 + -EPCs. Prior studies on the relationship between the level of EPCs and coronary artery disease (CAD), either did not distinguish between the two types of EPCs or studied only CD34 + -EPCs. We therefore investigated whether the number of circulating CD14 + -EPCs correlates with either CAD and/or cardiovascular risk factors. Circulating CD14 + -EPCs-as defined by the surface markers CD14 + KDR + -were analyzed by flow cytometry in 100 individuals [34 control subjects, 41 patients with stable CAD and 25 patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS)]. The level of circulating CD14 + -EPCs was not significantly different in patients with normal coronary arteries compared to those with stable CAD or ACS. Neither was there any association between the severity of CAD or risk factors and the number of circulating CD14 + -EPCs. Thus, the number of circulating CD14 + -EPCs was not significantly correlated either with the severity of coronary disease or with cardiovascular risk factors.

PLR may be useful as a biomarker for assessing survival of resected primary HCC patients.

Light-driven [2 + 2] cycloaddition of olefins is a kind of atom-economic and green transformation for building cyclobutane scaffolds, which are widely found in bioactive compounds and natural products. Although great progress has been made in the (dia)stereoselective synthesis of anti-cyclobutanes by photocycloadditions, the selective synthesis of syn-cyclobutanes is still full of challenges. Herein, we report a visible light-triggered and catalyst- and template-free [2 + 2] cycloaddition strategy of chalcones as a solid-state reaction in water to afford syn-cyclobutanes in high yields with excellent diastereoselectivity.