OSG (Japan)

Background/Objectives: Accurate prediction of severe adverse events (SAEs) is crucial for optimizing supportive care while maintaining treatment intensity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We evaluated the predictive value of the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) for SAEs in de novo DLBCL and examined potential interactions with treatment regimen and age. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study included 555 adults treated with standard immunochemotherapies. SAEs, defined as grade ≥ 3 non-hematological adverse events or febrile neutropenia, were independently assessed by board-certified hematologists. Results: Multivariable logistic regression identified GNRI as an independent predictor of SAEs (odds ratio 0.982, 95% confidence interval 0.967-0.997). Restricted cubic spline modeling revealed a significant non-linear association between GNRI and SAE risk (p = 0.045). No significant interaction was observed between GNRI and regimen or age (p = 0.894 and 0.217, respectively), a finding consistent across subgroups in forest plot analyses. Conclusions: This study showed that lower diagnostic GNRI was independently associated with higher SAE risk regardless of treatment regimen or age. These findings highlight the potential utility of GNRI as a simple clinical indicator for identifying patients at higher risk of treatment-related toxicity, although they are derived from a retrospective, tertiary-care cohort and require confirmation in external prospective studies.

1 at% Si-doped nanocrystalline diamond/amorphous carbon (NCD/a-C) composite films were deposited on cemented carbide (WC–Co) substrates by coaxial arc plasma deposition. The doping of Si evidently degraded the hardness of films directly deposited on the substrates due to catalytic effects of diffused Co atoms into the films. On the other hand, by employing undoped NCD/a-C buffer layers, the Co diffusion was suppressed and the hardness was enhanced from 42 to 60 GPa. It was found that the Si doping enhances the formation of C–C sp3 bonds, which resulted in the hardness enhancement in the case of suppressing the Co diffusion by insertion of undoped NCD/a-C buffer layers.

Nitrogen-containing diamond-like carbon (N-DLC) multilayer films approximately 500 nm thick were fabricated on tungsten carbide substrates as surface protective films with high wear-resistive and conductive properties. Each layer thickness of the N-DLC multilayer films was approximately 10 nm, and the films were a periodic bilayer structure consisting of hard and soft N-DLC layers. Owing to the high abrasion resistance of the hard layer and the low aggressiveness and high adhesion of the soft layer, the multilayer films showed good polishing and wear resistances compared with the hard N-DLC monolayer film, and the electrical resistivity was about half. In the case of DLC multilayer films consisting of hard N-free DLC and N-DLC films, the decrease of each layer thickness leads to the reduction of the polishing resistance. From X-ray reflectivity analysis of ultra-thin N-free DLC films, it was indicated that the film density of an ultra-thin N-free DLC film is lower than that of a thick N-free DLC film. In the DLC multilayer film with thin N-free DLC layers, it is possible that the polishing resistance of the whole DLC film reduced because the hardness the N-free DLC layer was decreased due to the low film density of each N-free DLC layer.

Polycrystalline cubic boron nitride compact (cBN) is effective tool material for cutting hardened steel. In addition to coated high speed steel and coated cemented carbide that has long been used for cutting materials, more recently, coated cBN has also been used. In this study, to verify the effectiveness of the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN, which is formed on the substrate of cBN by the physical vapor deposition method, the hardened steel was turned with the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN tool at a cutting speed of 3.33, 5.00 m/s, a feed rate of 0.3 mm/rev and a depth of cut of 0.1 mm. Furthermore, the uncoated cBN, which was the substrate of the (Ti,Al)N-coated, was also used. The tool wear of the cBN tools was experimentally investigated. The following results were obtained: (1) The contact area between the rake face and the chip of the (Ti,.Al)N-coated cBN tool was smaller than that of the uncoated cBN tool. (2) The tool wear of the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN was smaller than that of uncoated cBN. (3) The wear progress of the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN with the main element phase of the TiCN-Al, was slower than that of the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN with the main element phase of the TiN-Al. (4) In the case of the high cutting speed of 5.00 m/s, the tool wear of the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN was also smaller than that of uncoated cBN. The above results clarify that the (Ti,Al)N-coated cBN can be used as a tool material in high feed cutting of hardened steel.

Si and Cr doped ultrananocrystalline diamond/amorphous carbon composite films were deposited on cemented carbide (WC-Co) substrates by using coaxial arc plasma deposition with Si and Cr blended graphite targets. The undoped films deposited at room temperature and a repetition rate of arc discharges of 1 Hz have the maximum hardness of 51 GPa and Young’s modulus of 520 GPa. With increasing substrate temperature and repetition rate, the hardness and modulus are degraded, which might be because the growth of spFrom energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic measurements, the diffusion of Co atoms from the substrates into the films were observed for the Si-doped films. Since the Co diffusion induce the graphitization due to the catalytic effects, the degraded hardness and modulus of the Si doped films should be attributable to the catalytic effects of Co. For the Cr-doped films, the degraded hardness and modulus might be because of the Co catalytic effects being enhanced by the bombardment of Cr atoms whose atomic weight is much larger than that of C and the formation of chromium carbide. It was found that the doping of Si and Cr for the deposition of UNCD/a-C films deposited on WC-Co by CAPD is not effective for the improvement of the hardness and modulus.

Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD)/nonhydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C) composite (UNCD/a-C) films were deposited on cemented carbide (WC-Co) substrates by coaxial arc plasma deposition (CAPD). To suppress the graphitization induced by Co in the WC-Co, the film deposition was carried out on unheated substrates. The hardness and Young’s modulus were 51.3 GPa and 520.2 GPa, respectively. These values are comparable or rather larger than those of UNCD/a-C films deposited on other substrates such as Si, which implies that the graphitization of UNCD/a-C hardly occurs. Surprisingly, UNCD/a-C films could be deposited at the maximum film thickness of approximately 3 μm in spite of the room temperature growth. The internal compress-stress of the film is approximately 4.5 GPa, which is evidently smaller than that of comparably hard a-C films. The existence of a large number of grain boundaries in the films, which is structural specific to UNCD/a-C, might play an important role in the release of an internal stress in the film. It was experimentally demonstrated that UNCD/a-C films prepared by CAPD are potential hard coating materials for WC-Co.