The synthesis of 5-(halomethyl)furfurals (XMFs, X=F, Cl, Br, I), including 5-(chloromethyl)furfural (CMF), 5-(bromomethyl)furfural (BMF), 5-(iodomethyl)furfural (IMF), and 5-(fluoromethyl)furfural (FMF), from biomass represents a pivotal advancement in renewable chemistry and engineering. Harnessing waste biomass as a raw material offers a sustainable alternative to fossil-based resources, mitigating environmental degradation and addressing pressing energy needs. CMF and BMF, characterized by their enhanced stability over the hydroxyl analog, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF), exhibit promise as renewable building blocks for scale-up and commercialization. The surge in research interest, particularly from 2010 to 2024, reflects a growing recognition of XMFs\' potential as novel platform chemicals. This review highlights the evolution of XMF synthesis methods, focusing on their transformation from saccharides and lignocellulosic biomass. Mechanistic insights and experimental setups are scrutinized for industrial feasibility and scalability, shedding light on technical challenges and avenues for further research. The analysis underscores the burgeoning significance of XMFs in the transition towards sustainable chemical production, emphasizing the importance of process optimization and mechanistic understanding for commercial deployment.

CCT MOTIF FAMILY (CMF) genes belong to the CCT gene family and have been shown to play a role in diverse processes, such as flowering time and yield regulation, as well as responses to abiotic stresses. CMF genes have not yet been identified in Brassica rapa. A total of 25 BrCMF genes were identified in this study, and these genes were distributed across eight chromosomes. Collinearity analysis revealed that B. rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana share many homologous genes, suggesting that these genes have similar functions. According to sequencing analysis of promoters, several elements are involved in regulating the expression of genes that mediate responses to abiotic stresses. Analysis of the tissue-specific expression of BrCMF14 revealed that it is highly expressed in several organs. The expression of BrCMF22 was significantly downregulated under salt stress, while the expression of BrCMF5, BrCMF7, and BrCMF21 was also significantly reduced under cold stress. The expression of BrCMF14 and BrCMF5 was significantly increased under drought stress, and the expression of BrCMF7 was upregulated. Furthermore, protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed that A. thaliana homologs of BrCMF interacted with genes involved in the abiotic stress response. In conclusion, BrCMF5, BrCMF7, BrCMF14, BrCMF21, and BrCMF22 appear to play a role in responses to abiotic stresses. The results of this study will aid future investigations of CCT genes in B. rapa.

Nighttime crashes account for 74% of pedestrian fatalities in the United States, and reduced visibility is a significant cause of nighttime pedestrian crashes. Maintaining sufficient and uniform roadway lighting is an effective countermeasure to improve pedestrian visibility and prevent nighttime pedestrian crashes and injuries. Previous studies have not quantified the safety effects of roadway photometric patterns (i.e., average lighting level and uniformity) on nighttime pedestrian crashes on roadway segments.
This study investigated the association between two roadway photometric criteria (horizontal illuminance mean representing average lighting level and horizontal illuminance standard deviation representing lighting uniformity) and nighttime pedestrian crash occurrence in Florida roadway segments. The matched case-control method was used to decouple the confounding effects between the illuminance mean and standard deviation. Statistically-significant crash modification factors (CMFs) were developed to quantify the safety effects of the mean and standard deviation of horizontal illuminance on nighttime pedestrian crashes.
The results show that if the average lighting level on a roadway segment is increased from a low illuminance mean (<0.2 foot-candle [fc]) to a medium illuminance mean [0.2 fc, 0.5 fc], a medium-high illuminance mean (0.5 fc, 1.0 fc], and a high illuminance mean (>1.0 fc), the relative likelihood of nighttime pedestrian crashes on midblock segments in Florida tends to be reduced by 77.5% (CMF = 0.225), 81.2% (CMF = 0.188), and 85.5% (CMF = 0.145), respectively.
A poor uniformity (illuminance standard deviation ≥ 0.52 fc) is likely to increase the relative likelihood of nighttime pedestrian crashes on midblock segments in Florida by 80.3% (CMF = 1.803) compared to good uniformity (illuminance standard deviation < 0.52 fc).

Fomitiporia mediterranea (Fmed) is the primary Basidiomycota species causing white rot in European vineyards affected by the Esca complex of diseases (ECD). In the last few years, an increasing number of studies have highlighted the importance of reconsidering the role of Fmed in ECD etiology, justifying an increase in research interest related to Fmed\'s biomolecular pathogenetic mechanisms. In the context of the current re-evaluation of the binary distinction (brown vs. white rot) between biomolecular decay pathways induced by Basidiomycota species, our research aims to investigate the potential for non-enzymatic mechanisms adopted by Fmed, which is typically described as a white rot fungus. Our results demonstrate how, in liquid culture reproducing nutrient restriction conditions often found in wood, Fmed can produce low molecular weight compounds, the hallmark of the non-enzymatic \"chelator-mediated Fenton\" (CMF) reaction, originally described for brown rot fungi. CMF reactions can redox cycle with ferric iron, generating hydrogen peroxide and ferrous iron, necessary reactants leading to hydroxyl radical (•OH) production. These observations led to the conclusion that a non-enzymatic radical-generating CMF-like mechanism may be utilized by Fmed, potentially together with an enzymatic pool, to contribute to degrading wood constituents; moreover, indicating significant variability between strains.

Metal matrix syntactic foams (MMSF) are advanced cellular materials constituted by a system of a minimum of two phases, in which a dispersion of hollow particles is embedded by a continuous metal matrix. The incorporation of porous fillers favors the development of low-density materials with exceptional behavior for damping vibrations, impacts, and blast effects, shielding acoustic, thermal, and electromagnetic energies. There are three main techniques to produce them: infiltration casting technique (ICT), stir casting technique (SCT), and powder metallurgy technique (P/M). The first two techniques are used for embedding filler into lower melting point metallic matrices than fillers, in contrast to P/M. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of producing MMSF with components of similar melting points by ICT. The fillers were synthesized in-situ with aluminum and a natural foaming agent from wastes of Spanish white marble quarries. These novel aluminum syntactic foams (ASF) were mechanically characterized following the ISO-13314 and exhibited a porosity, plateau stress, and energy absorption capacity of 41%, 37.65 MPa, 8.62 MJ/m3 (at 35% of densification), respectively. These properties are slightly superior to equal porosity LECA ASF, making these novel ASF suitable for the same applications as LECA-ASF.

Between 1982 and 1990 the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG) conducted a randomized trial in high-risk pre- and postmenopausal (<70 years) breast cancer patients comparing mastectomy plus adjuvant systemic therapy alone versus the same treatment plus postoperative irradiation.
To present a comprehensive analysis of the complete DBCG 82bc study with a 30-year long-term follow-up of the cancer therapeutic effect and survival, together with an additional focus on the potential long-term life-threatening morbidity related to cardiac irradiation and/or the risk of secondary cancer induction.
A total of 3083 patients with pathological stage II and stage III breast cancer were after mastectomy randomly assigned to receive adjuvant systemic therapy and postoperative irradiation to the chestwall and regional lymph nodes (1538 pts), or adjuvant systemic therapy alone (1545 pts). Pre- and menopausal patients (DBCG 82b) received 8-9 cycles of CMF with an interval of 4 weeks, whereas postmenopausal patients (DBCG 82c) received tamoxifen 30 mg daily for one year. The median follow-up time was 34 years. The primary endpoints were loco-regional recurrence (LRR) and overall mortality, and the secondary endpoints were distant metastasis, breast cancer mortality, and irradiation related late morbidity.
Overall the 30-year cumulative incidence of loco-regional recurrence was 9% in irradiated patients versus 37% in non-irradiated patients who received adjuvant systemic therapy alone (HR: 0.21 [95% cfl 0.18-0.26]). Distant metastasis probability at 30 years was 49% in irradiated patients compared to 60% in non-irradiated (HR: 0.77 [0.70-0.84]). Consequently, these figures resulted in a reduced breast cancer mortality: 56% vs 67% (HR: 0.75 [0.69-0.82], and overall mortality (81% vs 86% at 30 years (p < 0.0001), HR: 0.83 [0.77-0.90] in favor of irradiation. Radiotherapy did not result in any significant excess death of other courses, such as ischemic heart disease, HR: 0.82 [0.58-1.18]; nor secondary lung cancer HR: 1.44 [0.92-2.24], or other non-cancer related death HR: 1.15 [0.92-1.45].
The study definitely demonstrate that optimal long-term treatment benefit of high-risk breast cancer can only be achieved if both loco-regional and systemic tumor control are aimed for. Therefore, radiotherapy has an important role in the multidisciplinary treatment of breast cancer. The PMRT treatment did not result in excess ischemic heart damage, nor in other non-breast cancer related death.

Bone tissue engineering is a rapidly developing field with potential for the regeneration of craniomaxillofacial (CMF) bones, with 3D printing being a suitable fabrication tool for patient-specific implants. The CMF region includes a variety of different bones with distinct functions. The clinical implementation of tissue engineering concepts is currently poor, likely due to multiple reasons including the complexity of the CMF anatomy and biology, and the limited relevance of the currently used preclinical models. The \'recapitulation of a human disease\' is a core requisite of preclinical animal models, but this aspect is often neglected, with a vast majority of studies failing to identify the specific clinical indication they are targeting and/or the rationale for choosing one animal model over another. Currently, there are no suitable guidelines that propose the most appropriate animal model to address a specific CMF pathology and no standards are established to test the efficacy of biomaterials or tissue engineered constructs in the CMF field. This review reports the current clinical scenario of CMF reconstruction, then discusses the numerous limitations of currently used preclinical animal models employed for validating 3D-printed tissue engineered constructs and the need to reduce animal work that does not address a specific clinical question. We will highlight critical research aspects to consider, to pave a clinically driven path for the development of new tissue engineered materials for CMF reconstruction.

Functional and esthetic final reconstruction of the cleft maxilla is still challenging. Current reconstructive and augmentation techniques do not provide sufficient bone and soft tissue support for the predictable rehabilitation with dental implants due to presence of maxillary bone critical size defects and soft tissue deficiency, scaring and poor vascularity. In this article the protocol for the use of 3D virtual surgical planning and microvascular tissue transfers for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of cleft maxilla is presented. Twenty-five patients (8 male/17 female) aged 14-41 years old with cleft-associated critical size defects were treated by 3D-virtual planned microvascular tissue transfers taken either from fibula, iliac crest, radial forearm, or medial femoral condyle. Follow-up lasted 1-5 years. No significant bone resorption (p > 0.005) nor volume loss of the graft was observed (p = 0.645). Patients received final permanent prosthetic reconstruction of the anterior maxilla based on 2-5 dental implants, depending on the defect severity. This is the first study presenting the use of virtual planning in the final restoration of the cleft maxilla with microvascular tissue transfers and dental implants. Presented protocol provide highly functional and aesthetic results.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacies of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) and tegafur-uracil (UFT) as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected stage I-IIIA breast cancer by immunohistochemistry (IHC)-based subtype and to determine the relationships between clinicopathological factors and long-term outcomes.
METHODS: A pooled analysis of the randomized controlled N·SAS-BC 01 and CUBC studies was conducted. Expression of hormone receptors (HRs; estrogen and progesterone receptors), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki67were assessed by IHC. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and nuclear/histological grades were determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and hazard ratios were determined by Cox model adjusted for baseline tumor size and nodal status.
RESULTS: A total of 689 patients (342 CMF and 347 UFT) were included in the analyses with a median follow-up of 11.1 years. There was no significant difference in RFS or OS between the two cohorts (RFS: 0.96 [95% confidence interval: 0.71-1.30], log-rank test p = 0.80; OS: 0.93 [0.64-1.35], p = 0.70). There was no difference in RFS or OS between the two cohorts for HR+/HER2- and HR+/HER2+ subtypes. RFS was significantly longer in patients treated with UFT compared with CMF in patients with HR-/HER2+ subtype (0.30 [0.10-0.88], p = 0.03). A high TILs level was associated with a better OS compared with low TILs level (p = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS: This long-term follow-up study showed that RFS and OS were similar in patients with luminal-type breast cancer treated with CMF and UFT.

This paper aims to demonstrate the self-protection and self-sensing functionalities of self-compacted concrete (SCC) containing carbon nanotubes (CNT) and carbon microfibers (CMF) in a hybrid system. The ability for self-sensing at room temperature and that of self-protection after thermal fatigue cycles is evaluated. A binder containing a high volume of supplementary mineral additions (30%BFSand20%FA) and different type of aggregates (basalt, limestone, and clinker) are used. The self-diagnosis is assessed measuring electrical resistivity (ER) and piezoresistivity (PZR) in compression mode within the elastic region of the concrete. Thermal fatigue is evaluated with mechanical and crack measurements after heat cycles (290-550 °C). SCC withstands high temperature cycles. The protective effect of the hybrid additive (CNT+CMF) notably diminishes damage by keepinghigher residual strength and lessmicrocracking of the concrete. Significant reductions in ER are detected. The self-diagnosis ability of functionalized SCC isconfirmed with PZR. A content of the hybrid functional additive (CNT+CMF) in the percolation region is recommended to maximize the self-sensing sensitivity. Other parameters as sample geometry, sensor location, power supply, and load level have less influence.