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Acta Oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) Jun 2024The delineation of intraprostatic lesions is vital for correct delivery of focal radiotherapy boost in patients with prostate cancer (PC). Errors in the delineation... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
BACKGROUND
The delineation of intraprostatic lesions is vital for correct delivery of focal radiotherapy boost in patients with prostate cancer (PC). Errors in the delineation could translate into reduced tumour control and potentially increase the side effects. The purpose of this study is to compare PET-based delineation methods with histopathology.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study population consisted of 15 patients with confirmed high-risk PC intended for prostatectomy. [68Ga]-PSMA-PET/MR was performed prior to surgery. Prostate lesions identified in histopathology were transferred to the in vivo [68Ga]-PSMA-PET/MR coordinate system. Four radiation oncologists manually delineated intraprostatic lesions based on PET data. Various semi-automatic segmentation methods were employed, including absolute and relative thresholds, adaptive threshold, and multi-level Otsu threshold.
RESULTS
The gross tumour volumes (GTVs) delineated by the oncologists showed a moderate level of interobserver agreement with Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.68. In comparison with histopathology, manual delineations exhibited the highest median DSC and the lowest false discovery rate (FDR) among all approaches. Among semi-automatic approaches, GTVs generated using standardized uptake value (SUV) thresholds above 4 (SUV > 4) demonstrated the highest median DSC (0.41), with 0.51 median lesion coverage ratio, FDR of 0.66 and the 95th percentile of the Hausdorff distance (HD95%) of 8.22 mm.
INTERPRETATION
Manual delineations showed a moderate level of interobserver agreement. Compared to histopathology, manual delineations and SUV > 4 exhibited the highest DSC and the lowest HD95% values. The methods that resulted in a high lesion coverage were associated with a large overestimation of the size of the lesions.
Topics: Humans; Male; Prostatic Neoplasms; Gallium Radioisotopes; Tumor Burden; Gallium Isotopes; Positron-Emission Tomography; Aged; Prostatectomy; Middle Aged; Radiopharmaceuticals; Oligopeptides; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Edetic Acid
PubMed: 38912830
DOI: 10.2340/1651-226X.2024.39041 -
Journal of Applied Biomaterials &... 2024This study aims to investigate the effect of coating time on the formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) coating layer on ZK60 substrate and understand the biodegradation...
OBJECTIVES
This study aims to investigate the effect of coating time on the formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) coating layer on ZK60 substrate and understand the biodegradation behavior of the coated alloy for biodegradable implant applications.
METHODS
Biodegradable ZK60 alloy was coated by HA layer for different times of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h by chemical conversion method. After coating, all the coated specimens were used for immersion test in Hanks' solution to understand the effect of coating time on the degradation behavior of the alloy. The degradation rate of the coated alloy was evaluated by Mg ion quantification and pH change during immersion test. The microstructure of the coating layer was examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) before and after immersion to understand the degradation behavior of the coated alloy.
RESULTS
HA coating layers were formed successfully on surface of ZK60 specimens after 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h with different microstructure. Optimal coating quality was observed at 1 or 2 h, characterized by well-formed and uniform HA layers. However, extending the coating duration to 4 h led to the formation of cracks within the HA layer, accompanied by Mg(OH). Specimens coated for 1 and 2 h exhibited the lowest degradation rates, while specimens coated for 0.5 and 4 h showed the highest degradation rates. Furthermore, analysis of degradation products revealed the predominance of calcium phosphates formed on the surface of specimens coated for 1 and 2 h. Conversely, specimens coated for 0.5 and 4 h exhibited Mg(OH) as the primary degradation product, suggesting a less effective corrosion barrier under these conditions.
CONCLUSION
The HA layer formed after 2 h demonstrated as the most effective coating layer for enhancing the corrosion resistance of the ZK60 alloy for biomedical applications.
Topics: Durapatite; Alloys; Coated Materials, Biocompatible; Materials Testing; Corrosion; Magnesium
PubMed: 38912599
DOI: 10.1177/22808000241251564 -
National Science Review Jul 2024High-voltage aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) with a high-safety near-neutral electrolyte is of great significance for practical sustainable application; however, they...
High-voltage aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) with a high-safety near-neutral electrolyte is of great significance for practical sustainable application; however, they suffer from anode and electrode/electrolyte interfacial incompatibility. Herein, a conversion-type anode chemistry with a low anodic potential, which is guided by the Gibbs free energy change of conversion reaction, was designed for high-voltage near-neutral AZIBs. A reversible conversion reaction between ZnCO·2HO particles and three-dimensional Zn metal networks well-matched in CHCOOLi-based electrolyte was revealed. This mechanism can be universally validated in the battery systems with sodium or iodine ions. More importantly, a cathodic crowded micellar electrolyte with a water confinement effect was proposed in which lies the core for the stability and reversibility of the cathode under an operating platform voltage beyond 2.0 V, obtaining a capacity retention of 95% after 100 cycles. Remarkably, the scientific and technological challenges from the coin cell to Ah-scale battery, sluggish kinetics of the solid-solid electrode reaction, capacity excitation under high loading of active material, and preparation complexities associated with large-area quasi-solid electrolytes, were explored, successfully achieving an 88% capacity retention under high loading of more than 20 mg cm and particularly a practical 1.1 Ah-level pouch cell. This work provides a path for designing low-cost, eco-friendly and high-voltage aqueous batteries.
PubMed: 38912515
DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwae181 -
Heliyon Jun 2024This study aims to prevent ice accumulation on the surface of drilling tools by investigating the effectiveness of hydrophobic coatings, which is one of the most...
This study aims to prevent ice accumulation on the surface of drilling tools by investigating the effectiveness of hydrophobic coatings, which is one of the most promising methods to solve drilling difficulties in warm ice. Herein, four types of hydrophobic organic coatings that can be used on metal surfaces were tested to evaluate their anti-icing performance, service durability, and friction properties. All of them possess rough surfaces with microstructure characteristics such as pores, stripes, or micropapillae. They also exhibit hydrophobicity, with water contact angles of 101.6°, 100.0°, 103.1°, and 108.5°. They can significantly prolong the required freezing time of water droplets on their surfaces, effectively reduce ice adhesion, and decrease the friction between ice and their surface. The ice adhesion in the axial, tensile, and tangential directions can be reduced by 65.64 %, 56.31 %, and 72.11 %, respectively, for the coating with silicon (Si)-based and fluorine (F)-containin compounds (coating-) at -30 °C; while it can be reduced by 85.05 %, 73.9 %, and 94.2 %, respectively, for the coatings with Si-based and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) compounds (coating-). The two coatings mentioned above lose their anti-icing performance after 20 icing and de-icing cycles, and their hydrophobicity after 120 abrasion cycles under a load of 6 N.
PubMed: 38912511
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32319 -
Heliyon Jun 2024Poor distillation practices in the production of spirits have historically resulted in many instances of adverse health outcomes including death. Concern has focused on...
OBJECTIVE
Poor distillation practices in the production of spirits have historically resulted in many instances of adverse health outcomes including death. Concern has focused on lead and copper contamination as well as unhealthy levels of methanol and glyphosate. This study assesses home-distilled and commercially distilled alcohols from Texas for these substances of concern, highlighting their potential risks to public health.
METHODS
Atomic absorption spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were employed to determine lead and copper, methanol, and glyphosate levels in 12 commercial and 36 home-distilled alcohol samples.
RESULTS
Our findings showed that 11 % of the home-distilled alcohols exceeded the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's copper safety limits of 0.5 mg/L for wine. Additionally, 36 % of these samples surpassed the European Commission (EC)'s lead legal threshold of 0.15 mg/L set for wine products. Results from commercial alcohols indicated that no samples exceeded the same safety limits for copper, and 33 % exceeded the same legal threshold for lead. Both commercial and home-distilled alcohols exhibited methanol concentrations remarkably below the 0.35 % limit for brandy set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Only two home-distilled samples contained detectable glyphosate concentrations well below 100 μg/L, the maximum residue level in beer and wine established by the EC.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggested that consumption of alcohol in Texas may pose potential health risks associated with the elevated content of lead and copper. There is a need for increased focus on alcohol as a potential source of exposure to heavy metals.
PubMed: 38912503
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32317 -
Heliyon Jun 2024The resonance enhanced InAs/GaSb type-II Superlattices (T2SLs) infrared detectors with diffraction rings is designed, and the photoelectric characteristics are...
The resonance enhanced InAs/GaSb type-II Superlattices (T2SLs) infrared detectors with diffraction rings is designed, and the photoelectric characteristics are calculated and studied in this paper. The diffraction rings are designed on the top surface of T2SLs detector to control the incident light inside the device by forming the resonant cavity. We designed the structure of the conventional PIN InAs/GaSb T2SLs photodetector, calculated the energy band structure of the absorption layer, and analyzed the influence of the thickness of the absorption layer on the photoelectric performance. It is proved that blindly increasing the thickness of the absorption layer cannot effectively improve the device performance. We further studied the quantum efficiency (QE) and electric field distribution of the device after adding the diffraction ring structure. The results show that the structure with diffraction rings can significantly improve the QE of the photodetector without increasing the dark current. The interaction between the diffraction ring and the metal contact layer will enhance the localization of the electric field and further increase the light absorption between the semiconductor layers.
PubMed: 38912499
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32543 -
Heliyon Jun 2024Quality silicate fertilizers should be in great demand, and yet the production has been limited due to strict regulations on heavy metals, despite many raw materials and...
Quality silicate fertilizers should be in great demand, and yet the production has been limited due to strict regulations on heavy metals, despite many raw materials and activation methods being used. In the chemical deashing of coals for the production of ultraclean coals, the silica gels of high purity were precipitated with little heavy metals from the acid deashing solutions, which could be used to produce quality silicate fertilizers by pulping with CaO or MgO under mild conditions. By varying the Ca/Si molar ratios, silicate fertilizers with different chemical compositions were prepared, and the active silica contents were measured and validated by ICP and colorimetric methods. For the curve of the active silica contents versus the Ca/Si molar ratios, four regions could be clearly marked with unique patterns, and quality silicate fertilizers occurred with the Ca/Si molar ratios from ∼1.10 to ∼3.50. The pH values of the silicate fertilizers could also be divided into the same four regions with respect to the Ca/Si molar ratios, and the highest active silica content occurred at the pH value of ∼11.30 with the Ca/Si molar ratio of ∼1.50. With the XRD investigations of the silicate fertilizers selected from the four regions, the water-insoluble 1.5CaO·SiO•xHO was identified as the contributor of active silica in the silicate fertilizers. By replacing full or part of CaO with MgO in the preparation of silicate fertilizers, the silica gels were found to preferably react with CaO, and the active silica contents grew with the increase of CaO. By referring to the model silicate fertilizers prepared in this work by varying the (Ca + Mg)/Si molar ratios, 1.5CaO·SiO•xHO was also identified as the dominant in one commercial slag silicate fertilizer. Silicate fertilizers by silica gels can be helpful for secondary pollution elimination and cost reduction of coal deashing.
PubMed: 38912488
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32318 -
Heliyon Jun 2024Multistage flexible heat pipe has been proved to offer advantage of large flexibility as well as low thermal resistance. However, the effects of structural parameters on...
Multistage flexible heat pipe has been proved to offer advantage of large flexibility as well as low thermal resistance. However, the effects of structural parameters on the comprehensive performances of such multistage thermal control device are still unclear, particularly regarding their mechanical properties. In this paper, effect of structural parameters on the mechanical and thermal performances of bionic multistage heat pipe is investigated. Results show that the stiffness of polymer tubes primarily determines the flexibility of multistage flexible heat pipe. The heat pipe with 4 metal tubes in the adiabatic section can achieve relative large flexibility and maximum bending angle as well as the short start-up time. The bending rigidity of multistage flexible heat pipe increases from 97624.4 N mm to 293152.9 N mm when its metal ratio raises from 0 % to 80 %. The thermal resistance of multistage flexible heat pipe decreases more than 32.9 % compared to the traditional flexible heat pipe. When the flexible heat pipe remains straight, the heat transfer performance will slightly increase as the shell metal ratio increases. However, its thermal resistance will also have an additional increase when bending. These results can serve as a guide for the design of the multistage flexible thermal control device.
PubMed: 38912478
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32169 -
Heliyon Jun 2024This paper presents a conformal, miniaturized, and geometrically simple monopole antenna designed for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications. The antenna consists of...
This paper presents a conformal, miniaturized, and geometrically simple monopole antenna designed for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications. The antenna consists of a flexible substrate, radiating patch, ground, and metallic stubs. Meandered lines are added to the U-shaped radiator to achieve the required bandwidth of the antenna. The antenna has |S|< -10 dB magnitude from 5.06 to 7.24 GHz, attaining a peak low magnitude of-68 dB. The antenna is configured into a 4-port Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) setup to minimize the mutual coupling between its elements. The proposed flexible MIMO antenna offers bandwidth from 5.37 to 7.34 GHz and a peak moderate gain of 4.63 dBi with omnidirectional stable radiation patterns. To improve the mutual coupling, two hollow concentric circular structures, in combination with a pair of stub networks are integrated between the elements of the MIMO system. The transmission coefficient and surface current analysis confirm the effectiveness of the decoupling structure. The presented MIMO antenna is characterized by high isolation, a low envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), and high diversity gain, suitable for V2X MIMO communication scenarios.
PubMed: 38912464
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32216 -
Environmental Epidemiology... Dec 2023Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient and neurotoxicant, and the neurodevelopmental effects of Mn may depend on exposure timing. Less research has quantitatively...
BACKGROUND
Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient and neurotoxicant, and the neurodevelopmental effects of Mn may depend on exposure timing. Less research has quantitatively compared the impact of Mn exposure on neurodevelopment across exposure periods.
METHODS
We used data from 125 Italian adolescents (10-14 years) from the Public Health Impact of Metals Exposure Study to estimate prospective associations of Mn in three early life exposure periods with adolescent attention-related behaviors. Mn was quantified in deciduous teeth using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to represent prenatal (2nd trimester-birth), postnatal (birth ~1.5 years), and childhood (~1.5-6 years) exposure. Attention-related behavior was evaluated using the Conners Behavior Rating Scales in adolescence. We used multivariable linear regression models to quantify associations between Mn in each exposure period, and multiple informant models to compare associations across exposure periods.
RESULTS
Median tooth Mn levels (normalized to calcium) were 0.4 area under the curve (AUC) Mn:Ca × 10, 0.1 AUC Mn:Ca × 10, and 0.0006 Mn:Ca for the prenatal, postnatal, and childhood periods. A doubling in prenatal tooth Mn levels was associated with 5.3% (95% confidence intervals [CI] = -10.3%, 0.0%) lower (i.e., better) teacher-reported inattention scores, whereas a doubling in postnatal tooth Mn levels was associated with 4.5% (95% CI = -9.3%, 0.6%) and 4.6% (95% CI = -9.5%, 0.6%) lower parent-reported inattention and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder index scores, respectively. Childhood Mn was not beneficially associated with reported attention-related behaviors.
CONCLUSION
Protective associations in the prenatal and postnatal periods suggest Mn is beneficial for attention-related behavior, but not in the childhood period.
PubMed: 38912396
DOI: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000274