Retrospective evaluation of lymphatic and blood vessel invasion and Borrmann types in advanced proximal gastric cancer

BACKGROUND The Borrmann classification system is used to describe the macroscopic appearance of advanced gastric cancer,and Borrmann typeⅣdisease is independently associated with a poor prognosis.AIM To evaluate the prognostic significance of lymphatic and/or blood vessel invasion(LBVI)combined with the Borrmann type in advanced proximal gastric cancer(APGC).METHODS The clinicopathological and survival data of 440 patients with APGC who underwent curative surgery between 2005 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS In these 440 patients,LBVI+status was associated with Borrmann typeⅣ,low histological grade,large tumor size,and advanced pT and pN status.The 5-year survival rate of LBVI+patients was significantly lower than that of LBVI– patients,although LBVI was not an independent prognostic factor in the multivariate analysis.No significant difference in the prognosis of patients with Borrmann typeⅢ/LBVI+disease and patients with Borrmann typeⅣdisease was observed.Therefore,we proposed a revised Borrmann typeⅣ(r-BorⅣ)as Borrmann typeⅢplus LBVI+,and found that r-BorⅣwas associated with poor prognosis in patients with APGC,which outweighed the prognostic significance of pT status.CONCLUSION LBVI is related to the prognosis of APGC,but is not an independent prognostic factor.LBVI status can be used to differentiate Borrmann typesⅢandⅣ,and the same approach can be used to treat r-BorⅣand Borrmann typeⅣ.

Influence of sintering temperature on the thermoelectric properties of Ba_8Ga_(16)Si_(30) clathrate treated by spark plasma sintering

A series of Ba8Ga16Si30 clathrate samples were prepared by arc melting, ball milling, acid washing, and spark plasma sintering （SPS）. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the lattice of the Ba8Ga16Si30 samples expanded as the SPS temperature was increased from 400 to 750℃. Lattice contraction recurred when the SPS temperature was further increased in the range of 750-1000℃. This phenomenon can be explained by the variation of Ga content in the lattice. The thermoelectric figure of the merit ZT value of clathrates increased with the increase in SPS temperature and reached a maximum when the sample was subjected to SPS at 800℃. A further increase in SPS temperature did not contribute to the improvement of ZT. The variation of the lattice parameter a vs. SPS temperature T was similar to the variation ob-served in the ZT-T curve.