Mannose metabolism and immune regulation:Insights into its therapeutic potential in immunology-related diseases

Mannose,a different isomer of the hydroxyl group at the C-2 position of glucose,shares the same transport carrier protein with glucose to enter cells and participate in the regulation of glucose metabolism.It affects cell growth,differentiation,and function and plays an active role in tumor immunity and inflammatory processes.This paper provides theoretical support for expanding the clinical applications of mannose by exploring its constitution,metabolic pathways,and role in regulating immune cell function and treating immunology-related diseases.

Revalidation of a prognostic score model based on complete blood count for nasopharyngeal carcinoma through a prospective study

Objective： In our previous work, we incorporated complete blood count （CBC） into TNM stage to develop a new prognostic score model, which was validated to improve prediction efficiency of TNM stage for nasopharyngeal carcinoma （NPC）. The purpose of this study was to revalidate the accuracy of the model, and its superiority to TNM stage, through data from a prospective study.Methods： CBC of 249 eligible patients from the 863 Program No. 2006AA02Z4B4 was evaluated. Prognostic index （PI） of each patient was calculated according to the score model. Then they were divided by the PI into three categories： the low-, intermediate-and high-risk patients. The 5-year disease-specific survival （DSS） of the three categories was compared by a log-rank test. The model and TNM stage （Tth edition） were compared on efficiency for predicting the 5-year DSS, through comparison of the area under curve （AUC） of their receiver-operating characteristic curves.Results： The 5-year DSS of the low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients were 96.0%, 79.1% and 62.2%, respectively. The low- and intermediate-risk patients had better DSS than the high-risk patients （P〈0.001 and P〈0.005, respectively）. And there was a trend of better DSS in the low-risk patients, compared with the intermediate-risk patients （P=0.049）. The AUC of the model was larger than that of TNM stage （0.726 vs. 0.661, P：0.023）. Conclusions： A CBC-based prognostic score model was revalidated to be accurate and superior to TNM stage on predicting 5-year DSS of NPC.

Effectiveness and safety of different amifostine regimens：Preliminary results of a phase Ⅱ multicenter randomized controlled trial

Objective：The radioprotective effects of amifostine remain uncertain in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma（NPC）,and adverse effects and cost limit generalization of its classical everyday regimen.This phase II multicenter randomized controlled trial aimed to explore whether amifostine could ameliorate the toxicities of NPC patients in the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy（IMRT）,and to compare different regimens of amifostine on effectiveness and safety.Methods：Patients with stage I–IVB NPC were involved prospectively from January 1st,2013.All patients received radical treatment based on IMRT.After a randomization stratified by their stage,these patients were allocated into 3 groups：the group treated without amifostine,the group treated with the everyday regimen of amifostine,and the group treated with the every-other-day regimen.The 3 groups of patients were compared on radiotherapy-related acute toxicities,treatment effects of NPC,and amifostine-related complications.This trial was registered on the clinicaltrials.gov（ID：NCT01762514）.Results：Until August 31st,2017,totally 187 patients completed experimental intervention.Only amifostine of everyday regimen appeared to reduce the patient proportion of mucositis（79.1%vs.96.8%,P=0.002）.Hypocalcemia was less common in patients treated without amifostine than in those treated with amifostine（22.6%vs.53.4%vs.41.8%,P=0.002）.Neither complete remission rates nor the survivals were affected by amifostine.Conclusions：Amifostine of everyday regimen could reduce mucositis in NPC patients who received IMRT,though it also had the possibility to cause more hypocalcemia.

Target delineation and dose prescription of adaptive replanning intensity-modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Dear Editor,Intensity-modulated radiotherapy(IMRT)has a distinct advantage of high conformity and is an appropriate tech-nique for treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC).Pre-vious studies have demonstrated that anatomical changes in the external contour,shape,and location of the target and critical structures are significant and result in dosi-metric changes[1,2].Patients’quality of life and clini-cal outcomes might be improved by IMRT replanning[3].Therefore,replanning strategies should be consid-ered instead of single-planning strategies throughout the entire course of radiotherapy.However,there are sub-stantial controversies on(1)the appropriate time for tar-get redelineation,(2)how to modify the target volumes,and(3)how to evaluate the modified plans.The present study provides a new perspective in replanning with regard to these three aspects.

Anti-wear beam effects on gas-solid hydrodynamics in a circulating fluidized bed

Anti-wear beams installed on water walls of circulating fluidized bed （CFB） boilers are one of the most effective ways to protect against water-wall erosion. Beam effects from, for example, beam size and superficial gas velocity were investigated on gas-solid hydrodynamics in a CFB test rig using CFD simulations and experimental methods. The downward flow of the wall layer solids is observed to be disrupted by the beam but is then restored some distance further downstream. When falling solids from the wall layer hit the anti-wear beam, the velocity of the falling solids decreases rapidly. A fraction of the solids accumulates on the beam. Below the beams, the falling solids have reduced velocities but upward-moving solids were observed on the wall. The effect of the beam increases with width and superficial gas velocity. Wear occurs mainly above the beam and its variation with width is different above to below the beam. There is an optimum width that, when combined with beam height, results in less erosion.

Recent advances in high-loading catalysts for low-temperature fuel cells: From nanoparticle to single atom

Low-temperature fuel cells(LTFCs)are considered to be one of the most promising power sources for widespread application in sustainable and renew-able energy conversion technologies.Although remarkable advances have been made in the mass activity of catalysts,mass transport impedance needs to be urgently addressed at a well-designed membrane electrode assembly(MEA)scale.Increasing the loading of electrocatalysts is conducive to prepare thinner and more efficient MEAs owing to the resulting enhanced reactant permeability,better proton diffusion,and lower electrical resistance.Herein,recent progress in high-loading(≥40 wt.%)Pt nanoparticle catalysts(NPCs)and high-loading(≥2 wt.%)single-atom catalysts(SACs)for LTFC applications are reviewed.A summary of various synthetic approaches and support materials for high-loading Pt NPCs and SACs is systematically presented.The influences of high surface area and appropriate surface functionalization for Pt NPCs,as well as coordina-tion environment,spatial confinement effect,and strong metal-support interac-tions(SMSI)for SACs are highlighted.Additionally,this review presents some ideas regarding challenges and future opportunities of high-loading catalysts in the application of LTFCs.

Void fraction for random loose packing of the cylindrical particles considering filling rate,material and shape

Particle packing is widely applied in organic pollutant adsorption,catalytic reaction.biomass combustion,nuclear cooling,and other scenarios.Due to the complexity of the shape,the studies on the void fraction of the cylindrical particles are not as thorough as the spherical particles.This study investigated the influence of the flling rate,material properties and sphericity on the void fraction of cylinders through experiments and simulation.DEM(discrete element method)was validated by the internal structures of the packing obtained by CT(computed tomography).Based on the logarithmic correlation between the void fraction and flling rate,an ingenious framework for predicting the void fraction of cylindrical particles was presented with two intermediate coefficients.By correlating the coefficients with the material property and sphericity,a novel void-fraction prediction model was established with R-squared of 0.996.The mechanism of void fraction under random loose packing for cylinders was eventually found in this study.

Direct capture efficiency of range hoods in the confined kitchen space

Range hood is a local ventilation device applied widely in residential kitchen for maintaining healthy environment. This study firstly defines the direct capture efficiency (DCE) based on the two-zone model in a confined kitchen space. A mass flux ratio of the secondary captured pollutant to the entrained pollutant from the room zone is proposed for the determination of DCE, where the distribution coefficient is firstly solved, and then its sensitivity analysis on the DCE is carried out. To validate the mass flux ratio and concisely identify the DCE, a virtual purification method that artificially sets the escaped pollutant to zero, is further applied. Compared with the newly developed DCE, the existing indexes, such as contaminant removal efficiency (CRE), total capture efficiency (TCE), fail to differentiate the direct capture from the total capture. Finally, the effects of such factors as makeup airflow pattern, exhaust flow rate, cooking source temperature and the individual occupied/unoccupied on the DCE are fully studied. It is confirmed that different makeup airflow pattern results in distinguished airflow distribution, which makes a significant difference of more than 30% in DCE. Over 50% increase of DCE can be achieved when the exhaust flow rate is increased from 300 to 600 m3/h. About 30% decrease of DCE is observed with the increased cooking source temperature from 100 to 300 °C, and 10% increase of DCE is appeared in the individual occupied case. This reasonable definition and determination of DCE would help to improve the real capture performance of range hoods.