There are no large samples or exact prediction models for assessing the cancer risk factors of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) in the Chinese population. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and imaging data of patients with SPNs who underwent computer tomography guided needle biopsy in our hospital from Jan 1st of 2011 to March 30th of 2016. These patients were divided into a development data set and a validation data set. These groups included 1078 and 344 patients, respectively. A prediction model was developed from the development data set and was validated with the validation data set using logistic regression. The predictors of cancer in our model included female gender, age, pack-years of smoking, a previous history of malignancy, nodule size, lobulated and spiculated edges, lobulation alone and spiculation alone. The Area Under the Curves, sensitivity and specificity of our model in the development and validation data sets were significantly higher than those of the Mayo model and VA model (p < 0.001). We established the largest sampling risk prediction model of SPNs in a Chinese cohort. This model is particularly applicable to SPNs > 8 mm in size. SPNs in female patients, as well as SPNs featuring a combination of lobulated and spiculated edges or lobulated edges alone, should be evaluated carefully due to the probability that they are malignant.

In this study, a novel composite Ni-OTiO 2 was prepared by doping nickel and introducing excess oxygen defects in TiO 2 . The assynthesized Ni-OTiO 2 particles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractino, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence, photoelectrochemistry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. When employing Ni (1%)-OTiO 2 as photocatalyst, the conversion of benzyl alcohol (BA) was up to 93% by 1 h irradiation derived from a 300 W xenon lamp, which is ∼8-times higher than that using pure TiO 2 . Moreover, while being irradiated with the 300 W xenon lamp (using a filter, λ > 420 nm), the Ni (1%)-OTiO 2 conducted photocatalytic system can give 86% conversion of BA to benzaldehyde within 1 h. Specifically, during photocatalysis, a peroxo group and nickel ion act as the electron carrier, promoting the separation of the electron−hole pair. It is considered that the highly improved photocatalytic ability after modification of pure TiO 2 is ascribable to the synergistic effect of excess oxygen defects and nickel doping in TiO 2 .

Photocatalytic reduction of CO 2 does effectively mitigate the concern of environmental issues and energy shortage. As one of the effective techniques for improving photocatalytic performance, highly efficient compounding between semiconductor and cocatalyst is capable of inhibiting electron and hole recombination. Herein, we build a 2D−2D heterojunction photocatalyst (SnS 2 /TiO 2 ) to proffer a highly ameliorated effect on the photocatalysis. The catalyst was prepared by hydrothermally depositing ultrathin SnS 2 nanosheets onto TiO 2 nanosheets. The prepared composite is systematically analyzed and confirmed by the corresponding characterizations. Further practical application of the assynthesized catalysts demonstrates that when the loaded amount of SnS 2 is 5 wt %, the activity of 2D−2D SnS 2 /TiO 2 catalyst exhibits the optimum catalytic activity with the CH 4 yield of 23 μmol/g, which is 20, 10, and 9 times greater than that conducted by P25, TiO 2 nanosheet, and SnS 2 nanosheet, respectively. According to the PL, PEC, and TEM characterization, along with the increment of the contact interface between the two components, the combination of electrons and holes is greatly reduced.

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