A novel modification method for the dynamic mechanical test using thermomechanical analyzer for composite multi-layered energetic materials

Herein,we present a thermo-mechanical analyzer(TMA)and dynamic mechanical analyzer(DMA)of composite multi-layered gun propellant,focusing on thermal expansion coefficients and dynamic thermomechanical properties.The linear thermal expansion coefficient of the prepared energetic material is determined as approx.0.1800×10^(-4)-0.2081×10^(-4)K^(-1).According to DMA test and dynamic thermomechanical properties,the glass transition temperature is also obtained.The tested value is within the range of 223.01-223.50 K,which indicates the lower limit of the energetic material.However,DMA tests reveal temperature changes,which occur due to thermal expansion.Moreover,the geometrical factor decreases with increasing temperature.Therefore,thermal expansion significantly affects the storage modulus and loss modulus.Additionally,the thermal expansion coefficient can be used to modify the storage and loss modulus.The results show that the proposed method provides effective and reliable modified results.

A nomogram to predict Gleason sum upgrading of clinically diagnosed localized prostate cancer among Chinese patients

Although several models have been developed to predict the probability of Gleason sum upgrading between biopsy and radical prostatectomy specimens,most of these models are restricted to prostatespecific antigen screening-detected prostate cancer.This study aimed to build a nomogram for the prediction of Gleason sum upgrading in clinically diagnosed prostate cancer.The study cohort comprised 269 Chinese prostate cancer patients who underwent prostate biopsy with a minimum of 10 cores and were subsequently treated with radical prostatectomy.Of all included patients,220(81.8%) were referred with clinical symptoms.The prostate-specific antigen level,primary and secondary biopsy Gleason scores,and clinical T category were used in a multivariate logistic regression model to predict the probability of Gleason sum upgrading.The developed nomogram was validated internally.Gleason sum upgrading was observed in 90(33.5%) patients.Our nomogram showed a bootstrap-corrected concordance index of 0.789 and good calibration using 4 readily available variables.The nomogram also demonstrated satisfactory statistical performance for predicting significant upgrading.External validation of the nomogram published by Chun et al.in our cohort showed a marked discordance between the observed and predicted probabilities of Gleason sum upgrading.In summary,a new nomogram to predict Gleason sum upgrading in clinically diagnosed prostate cancer was developed,and it demonstrated good statistical performance upon internal validation.

External validation of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer risk calculators in a Chinese cohort

Several prediction models have been developed to estimate the outcomes of prostate biopsies. Most of these tools were designed for use with Western populations and have not been validated across different ethnic groups. Therefore, we evaluated the predictive value of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial （PCPT） and the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer （ERSPC） risk calculators in a Chinese cohort. Clinicopathological information was obtained from 495 Chinese men who had undergone extended prostate biopsies between January 2009 and March 2011. The estimated probabilities of prostate cancer and high-grade disease （Gleason 〉6） were calculated using the PCPT and ERSPC risk calculators. Overall measures, discrimination, calibration and clinical usefulness were assessed for the model evaluation. Of these patients, 28.7% were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 19.4% had high-grade disease. Compared to the PCPT model and the prostate-specific antigen （PSA） threshold of 4 ng m1-1, the ERSPC risk calculator exhibited better discriminative ability for predicting positive biopsies and high-grade disease （the area under the curve was 0.831 and 0.852, respectively, P〈O.01 for both）. Decision curve analysis also suggested the favourable clinical utility of the ERSPC calculator in the validation dataset. Both prediction models demonstrated miscalibration： the risk of prostate cancer and high-grade disease was overestimated by approximately 20% for a wide range of predicted probabilities. In conclusion, the ERSPC risk calculator outperformed both the PCPT model and the PSA threshold of 4 ng ml- z in predicting prostate cancer and high-grade disease in Chinese patients. However, the prediction tools derived from Western men significantly overestimated the probability of prostate cancer and high-grade disease compared to the outcomes of biopsies in a Chinese cohort.

Prognostic factors in Chinese patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy

This study aims to evaluate the potential value of patient characteristics in predicting overall survival （OS） in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer （mCRPC） treated with docetaxel-based thermotherapy. A total of 115 patients with mCRPC undergoing a docetaxel q3w regimen were enrolled in this study. A survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the prognostic value of all covariates for OS. OS was also analysed after stratifying patients according to the results of multivariate analysis. The median OS for the entire cohort was 17.0 months. The multivariate analysis showed that the prostate-specific antigen doubling time （PSADT）, baseline haemoglobin （Hb） concentration, alkaline phosphatase （ALP） concentration, cycles of chemotherapy and time to castration resistance were independent prognostic factors of OS. According to the presence of PSADT 〈46.3 days and baseline ALP/〉 110 IU 1-1, all patients were divided into three risk groups： low-risk group （no risk factors）, intermediate-risk group （one risk factor） and high-risk group （two risk factors）. Median OSs for patients in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups were 28.0 months （95% Ch 23.8-32.2）, 21.0 months （95% Ch 18.9-23.1） and 11.0 months （95% Ch 7.6-14.4）, respectively （P〈O.O01）. In conclusion, PSADT, baseline Hb concentration, ALP concentration, cycles of chemotherapy and time to castration resistance were independent prognostic factors of OS in Chinese patients with mCRPC treated with docetaxel. PSADT combined with the baseline ALP concentration could be a useful risk stratification parameter for evaluating survival outcomes.

Prostate-specific antigen half-life： a new predictor of progression- free survival and overall survival in Chinese prostate cancer patients

We investigated the potential value of prostate-specific antigen half-life （PSAHL） and decreasing velocity （PSAVd） to predict progression-free survival （PFS） and overall survival （OS） in Chinese patients with prostate cancer. A total of 153 patients treated with hormonal therapy were included in the study. Of these, 78 patients progressed to hormone- refractory prostate cancer （HRPC） and 24 patients died by the end of follow-up. PSAHL was defined as the time during which prostate-specific antigen （PSA） concentration became half of the initial value during the first hormonal therapy. PSAVd reflected the decreasing velocity of PSA during the first hormonal therapy. PFS was defined as the interval from the beginning of hormonal therapy to HRPC. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to evaluate whether PSAHL and PSAVd were significantly associated with PFS and OS. The median PSAHL and PSAVd were 0.50 months and 33.8 ng mL^-1 per month. The median PFS and OS were 22.7 months （95% confidence interval [CI], 22.0-29.6 months） and 43.5 months （95% CI, 37.9-48.4 months）, respectively. On univariate and multivariate analysis, long PSAHL （〉 0.5 months）, metastatic disease, high biopsy Gleason scores （〉 8） and high nadir PSA （〉 0.4 ng mL^-1） were all found to be significantly associated with short PFS. Long PSAHL, high nadir PSA and short PSA doubling time （PSADT 〈 2.0 months） were significantly associated with short OS. There were no significant relationships between PSAVd and either PFS or OS. Thus, PSAHL is a promising new independent predictor of survival. Patients with long PSAHL were identified as those at high risk for a relatively short PFS and OS.

Influence of obesity on localized prostate cancer patients Ireated with radical prostatectomy

This study aimed to investigate the association between different anthropometric measures of obesity and clinicopathological characteristics in Chinese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer （PCa）. A total of 734 patients with clinically localized PCa who underwent radical prostatectomy （RP） were included in this study. Clinical and pathological data from each patient were collected. Anthropometric measures of abdominal adiposity were measured from T2-weighted sagittal Iocalisation images from magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） for 413 （56.3%） patients. Patient clinical and pathological characteristics were compared across body mass index （BMI） groups. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to address the influence of the preoperative total testosterone level and anthropometric measures of obesity on pathological outcomes. In the multivariate analysis, BMI was not significantly associated with any pathological outcomes. However, the percentage of visceral adipose tissue （VAT%） was an independent predictor of a pathological Gleason score ≥8 （P〈0.O01）, extracapsular extension （ECE; P=0.002） and seminal vesicle invasion （SVI; P=0.007）. More importantly, we found that the preoperative total testosterone level was significantly correlated with the VAT% （Pearson＇s correlation coefficient： -0.485, P〈0.001） and subcutaneous adipose tissue （SAT; Pearson＇s correlation coefficient： 0.413, P〈0.001）. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that abdominal fat distribution, and particularly VAT%, is associated with a risk of advanced PCa. Moreover, our present study confirms a significant inverse correlation between visceral adiposity and testosterone. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying the relationship between abdominal adiposity and the aggressiveness of PCa.

Perioperative complications of radical retropubic prostatectomy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer： a comparison with clinically localized prostate cancer

Radical prostatectomy （RP） continues to be an effective surgical therapy for prostate carcinoma, particularly for organ-confined prostate cancer （PCa）. Recently, RP has also been used in the treatment of locally advanced prostate cancer. However, little research has been performed to elucidate the perioperative complications associated with RP in patients with clinically localized or locally advanced PCa. We sought to analyse the incidence of complications in these two groups after radical retropubic prostatectomy （RRP）. From June 2002 to July 2010, we reviewed 379 PCa patients who underwent RRP in our hospital. Among these cases, 196 had clinically localized PCa （Tla-T2c group 1）, and 183 had locally advanced PCa （ ≥ T3,： group 2）. The overall complication incidence was 21.9%, which was lower than other studies have reported. Perioperative complications in patients with locally advanced PCa mirror those in patients with clinically localized PCa （26.2% vs. 17.8%, P=0.91）. Our results showed that perioperative complications could not be regarded as a factor to consider in regarding RP in patients with cT3 or greater.

External validation of nomograms for predicting cancer-specific mortality in penile cancer patients treated with definitive surgery

Using a population-based cancer registry,Thuret et al.developed 3 nomograms for estimating cancerspecific mortality in men with penile squamous cell carcinoma.In the initial cohort,only 23.0% of the patients were treated with inguinal lymphadenectomy and had pN stage.To generalize the prediction models in clinical practice,we evaluated the performance of the 3 nomograms in a series of penile cancer patients who were treated with definitive surgery.Clinicopathologic information was obtained from 160 M0 penile cancer patients who underwent primary tumor excision and regional lymphadenectomy between 1990 and 2008.The predicted probabilities of cancer-specific mortality were calculated from 3 nomograms that were based on different disease stage definitions and tumor grade.Discrimination,calibration,and clinical usefulness were assessed to compare model performance.The discrimination ability was similar in nomograms using the TNM classification or American Joint Committee on Cancer staging(Harrell's concordance index = 0.817 and 0.832,respectively),whereas it was inferior for the Surveillance,Epidemiology and End Results staging(Harrell's concordance index = 0.728).Better agreement with the observed cancer-specific mortality was shown for the model consisting of TNM classification and tumor grade,which also achieved favorable clinical net benefit,with a threshold probability in the range of 0 to 42%.The nomogram consisting of TNM classification and tumor grading was shown to have better performance for predicting cancer-specific mortality in penile cancer patients who underwent definitive surgery.Our data support the integration of this model in decision-making and trial design.

The effectiveness of the TAX 327 nomogram in predicting overall survival in Chinese patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

Based on the results of TAX 327, a nomogram was developed to predict the overall survival of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer （mCRPC） after first-line chemotherapy. The nomogram, however, has not been validated in an independent dataset, especially in a series out of clinical trials. Thus, the objective of the current study was to validate the TAX 327 nomogram in a community setting in China. A total of 146 patients with mCRPC who received first-line chemotherapy （docetaxel or mitoxantrone） were identified. Because clinical trials are limited in China's Mainland, those patients did not receive investigational treatment after the failure of first-line chemotherapy. The predicted overall survival rate was calculated from the TAX 327 nomogram. The validity of the model was assessed with discrimination, calibration and decision curve analysis. The median survival of the cohort was 21 months （docetaxel） and 19 months （mitoxantrone） at last follow-up. The predictive c-index of the TAX 327 nomogram was 0.66 （95% CI： 0.54-0.70）. The calibration plot demonstrated that the 2-year survival rate was underestimated by the nomogram. Decision curve analysis showed a net benefit of the nomogram at a threshold probability greater than 30%. In conclusion, the present validation study did not confirm the predictive value of the TAX 327 nomogram in a contemporary community series of men in China, and further studies with a large sample size to develop or validate nomograms for predicting survival and selecting therapies in advanced prostate cancer are necessary.

The prognostic factors of effective ketoconazole treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer： who can benefit from ketoconazole therapy？

We investigated the prognostic value of some variables of effective ketoconazole treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer （mCRPC）. In total, 163 patients with mCRPC were eligible, receiving ketoconazole 200-400 mg three times daily with replacement doses of prednisone. Progression-free survival （PFS） was calculated from the beginning of the ketoconazole therapy to the onset of disease progression. The prognostic value of different variables for PFS was assessed by Cox regression analysis. The median PFS was 2.6 months （0.5-8.6 months） for these patients. The serum testosterone level changed during therapy, which decreased when the prostate-specific antigen （PSA） declined; the serum testosterone level increased as the levels of PSA relapsed. The median PFS values for patients associated with different factors were the following： 1.4 and 3.5 months for a nadir PSA of ≥ 0.2 and 〈0.2 ng ml- 1, respectively （hazard rate （HR）=4.767, P〈0.001）; 3.1 and 1.6 months for a baseline testosterone of ≥0.1 and 〈0.1 ng m1-1, respectively （HR=2.865, P=0.012）; 2.8 and 1.9 months for a baseline haemoglobin of ≥ 120 and 〈120 g 1-1, respectively （HR= 1.605, P〈0.001）; and 3.0 and 1.9 months for a PSA doubling time （PSADT） of ≥ 2.0 and 〈2.0 months, respectively （HR= 1.454, P=-0.017）. A risk model was constructed according to the four factors that divided patients into three subgroups of low risk （0-1 factors）, moderate risk （2 factors） and high risk （3-4 factors） with PFS values of 3.6, 3.0 and 1.4 months, respectively （HR=1.619, P〈0.001）. A nadir PSA of ≥0.2 ng m1-1, a baseline testosterone of 〈0.1 ng m1-1, a baseline haemoglobin of 〈 120 g I- 1 and a PSADT of 〈2 months were associated with a poor PFS. This risk model could provide evidence to predict the survival benefit of ketoconazole therapy.

TiO_(2)-Fe_(2)TiO_(5)heterostructure hollow spheres enable high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries via interfacial engineering

The shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides between sulfur cathode and lithium anode is a notorious problem in the commercial application of lithium-sulfur batteries.Herein,heterostructured TiO_(2)-Fe_(2)TiO_(5)hollow spheres were proposed and synthesized as efficient sulfur host to address theshuttle behavior of poly sulfides.

Well-dispersed NiCoS_(2) nanoparticles/rGO composite with a large specific surface area as an oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst

Developing efficient oxygen evolution reaction(OER) electrocatalysts such as transition metal sulfides(TMSs) is of great importance to advance renewable hydrogen fuel toward further practical applications.Herein,NiCoS_(2) nanoparticles well decorated on double-sided N-doped reduced graphene oxide sheets(NiCoS_(2)/rGO) are prepared from an Al-containing ternary NiCoAl-layered double hydroxide precursor(NiCoAl-LDH) grown on GO support as an OER electrocatalyst.The Al-confinementassisted sulfurization,followed by selective acid treatment,endows the resulting NiCoS_(2)/rGO composite with the advantages:well-dispersed NiCoS_(2) nanoparticles,dualsided rGO support,as well as a large specific surface area of 119.4 m^(2)·g^(-1) and meso-/macroporous size distribution.The NiCoS_(2)/rGO electrocatalyst exhibits an overpotential of 273 mV at 10 mA·cm^(-2) and a good stability of 24 h,which outperform those of the counterparts of NiS_(2)/rGO and CoS_(2)/rGO.The results of electrochemical active surface area and electrochemical impedance spectra experimentally provide convincing rationales of the information of active sites and good conductivity,both underpin the enhanced electrocatalytic performances.

考虑受损基元承载影响的岩石统计损伤本构模型及工程应用（英文）

目的:建立三轴压缩作用下考虑受损基元承载影响的岩石材料损伤本构关系,并将其应用于工程实际。创新点:1.进行岩石损伤机理分析,探讨损伤阈值存在的原因,提出损伤修正系数,确定受损基元与无损基元的应力分配关系;2.建立能够反映岩石破裂全过程的损伤本构模型,验证模型的合理性并实现其程序化。方法:1.通过数值计算探讨岩石在初始缺陷下的损伤劣化机理,将不同初始状态的岩石定义为不同岩性的无损材料,建立合理的损伤模型;2.基于Mohr-Coulomb准则,结合连续损伤和统计理论,推导基于受损基元承载影响的岩石材料本构方程;3.与前人试验数据及理论成果进行对比,验证本构模型的合理性,最后利用C++语言编译的动态链接库(DLL)实现有限差分软件FLAC3D的二次开发,实现模型的工程应用。结论:1.岩体损伤劣化是无损基元发生物理性状改变导致材料刚度变小的结果,受损基元与无损基元的应力分配关系与岩体的瞬时损伤状态和应力状态有关;2.建立的岩石损伤本构模型与试验数据的拟合精度较高,能够准确地描述岩石的应力-应变关系;3.数值模拟结果与现场监测数据的吻合程度较高,表明该模型能够合理反映软弱岩体的损伤劣化效应。