Hepatocellular carcinoma progression in hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis patients receiving nucleoside(acid)analogs therapy:A retrospective cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Antiviral therapy cannot completely block the progression of hepatitis B to hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Furthermore,there are few predictors of early HCC progression and limited strategies to prevent progression in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis who receive nucleos(t)ide analog(NA)therapy.AIM The study aim was to clarify risk factors and the diagnostic value of alphafetoprotein(AFP)for HCC progression in NA-treated hepatitis B virus(HBV)-related cirrhosis patients.METHODS In this retrospective cross-sectional study,we analyzed the clinical data of 266 patients with HBV-related cirrhosis who received NA treatment between February 2014 and April 2020 at Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital.The patients were divided into two groups,145 who did not progress to HCC(No-HCC group),and 121 who progressed to HCC during NA treatment(HCC group).The logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of HCC progression.The diagnostic value of AFP for HCC was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis.RESULTS Univariate analysis showed that age≥60 years(P=0.001),hepatitis B and alcoholic etiology(P=0.007),smoking history(P<0.001),family history of HBV-related HCC(P=0.002),lamivudine resistance(P=0.011),HBV DNA negative(P=0.023),aspartate aminotransferase>80 U/L(P=0.002),gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase>120 U/L(P=0.001),alkaline phosphatase>250 U/L(P=0.001),fasting blood glucose(FBG)≥6.16(mmol/L)(P=0.001)and Child-Pugh class C(P=0.005)were correlated with HCC progression.In multivariate analysis,age≥60 years[hazard ratio(HR)=3.089,95%confidence interval(CI):1.437-6.631,P=0.004],smoking history(HR=4.001,95%CI:1.836-8.716,P<0.01),family history of HBV-related HCC(HR=6.763,95%CI:1.253-36.499,P<0.05),lamivudine resistance(HR=2.949,95%CI:1.207-7.208,P=0.018),HBV DNA negative(HR=0.026,95%CI:0.007-0.139,P<0.01),FBG≥6.16 mmol/L(HR=7.219,95%CI:3.716-14.024,P<0.01)were independent risk factors of HCC progression.ROC of AFP for diagnosis of HCC was 0.746(95%CI:0.674-0.818).A cutoff value of AFP of 9.00 ug/L had a sensitivity of 0.609,and specificity of 0.818 for diagnosing HCC.CONCLUSION Age≥60 years,smoking history,family history of HCC,lamivudine resistance,HBV DNA negative,FBG≥6.16 mmol/L were risk factors of HCC progression.Serum AFP had limited diagnostic value for HCC.

Optimization of closing law of turbine guide vanes based on improved artificial ecosystem algorithm

Optimization of the closing law of the guide vane is the most economical and efficient way to reduce the risk incurred by pressure and speed excursions,thus guaranteeing the security of the hydro-turbine and the whole hydraulic network.In order to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine,an improved artificial ecosystem optimization algorithm was proposed(IAEO).The reverse learning was used to initialize the population,multi-strategy bound handing schemes was used to improve the algorithm convergence speed.Twenty-three mathematical benchmark functions were used to test the IAEO.Results showed an improvement in the IAEO algorithm convergence speed and a stronger exploration than other algorithms.IAEO algorithm was used to optimize the closing law of the guide vane of hydraulic turbine based on the hydraulic transient calculation.The results showed that the maximum pressure in the spiral casing inlet,the minimum pressure in the draft tube inlet and the maximum speed all meet the design requirements by use of the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO.Compared with other algorithms such as particle swarm optimization(PSO),artificial ecosystem-based optimization(AEO)and grey wolf optimizer(GWO),the closing law of the guide vane optimized by IAEO algorithm was proved to be of great advantages in distribution of safety margin of each optimization goal.

Iodide analysis by ion chromatography on a new stationary phase of polystyrene-divinylbenzene agglomerated with polymerized-epichlorohydrin-dimethylamine

A new stationary phase for iodide ion analysis has been developed. The cationic polymerepichlorohydrin-dimethylamine（PEPI-DMA） was served as modifier in synthesizing polyelectrolyte sorbents and the macroporous polystyrene-divinylbenzene（PS-DVB） resin was used as support. The positively charged polymer（PEPI-DMA） was electrostatically bonded to a negatively charged particle（PS-DVB sulfonated）. The new stationary phase was characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, Fourier transform infrared（FTIR）, elemental analysis, chemical adsorption and desorption measurements. The chromatographic evaluation of the new stationary phase was performed using various anions with a conductivity detector. The new stationary phase was also applied to the determination of iodide directly with a DC amperometric detector using a platinum working electrode and an Ag/Ag Cl reference electrode. The chromatographic conditions were optimized and the eluent solution contained 5 mmol/L HNO3 and 15 mmol/L Na NO3 at a flow rate of 1.0 m L/min and column temperature of 30 8C. The applied voltage of the DC amperometric detector was 0.9 V. Under the optimum conditions, the linear range of the method was 0.2–50 mg/L for iodide ion with a correlation coefficient of 0.9990. The detection limit was 0.05 mg/L（calculated at S/N = 3） and the relative standard deviations（RSD, n = 6） were all less than 1% for retention time, peak area and peak height. This method was also utilized for the determination of iodide ions in samples of povidone iodine solution and kelp samples with satisfactory results.

Determination of anions in lithium-ion batteries electrolyte by ion chromatography

A sensitive and accurate method based on ion chromatography was established for determination of five lithium salts in lithium-ion batteries electrolytes. Chromatographic analyses were carried out on an anion exchange column at flow rate of 1 m L/min. Under the optimal conditions, five target anions（BF4^-,PF6^-, TFSI^-, BOB^-and FSI^-） exhibited satisfactory linearity with a correlation coefficient of 0.9996. The relative standard derivations of the target anions were less than less than 0.94%（n = 7）. The limits of detections were in the range of 0.068–0.29 mg/L with average spiked recoveries ranging from 96.8% to 105.1%.