Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type. Therefore, molecular targets are urgently required for the early ...detection of HCC and the development of novel therapeutic approaches. Glypican‐3 (GPC3), an oncofetal proteoglycan anchored to the cell membrane, is normally detected in the fetal liver but not in the healthy adult liver. However, in HCC patients, GPC3 is overexpressed at both the gene and protein levels, and its expression predicts a poor prognosis. Mechanistic studies have revealed that GPC3 functions in HCC progression by binding to molecules such as Wnt signaling proteins and growth factors. Moreover, GPC3 has been used as a target for molecular imaging and therapeutic intervention in HCC. To date, GPC3‐targeted magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and near‐infrared imaging have been investigated for early HCC detection, and various immunotherapeutic protocols targeting GPC3 have been developed, including the use of humanized anti‐GPC3 cytotoxic antibodies, treatment with peptide/DNA vaccines, immunotoxin therapies, and genetic therapies. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding the structure, function, and biology of GPC3 with a focus on its clinical potential as a diagnostic molecule and a therapeutic target in HCC immunotherapy.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of economic policy uncertainty on stock volatility forecast. We apply the GARCH–MIDAS model which can directly incorporate low-frequency ...economic policy uncertainty index and high-frequency stock return to model and forecast stock index volatility. The in-sample estimation results show that both level and variance of the change rate of Chinese economic policy uncertainty index provide useful information beyond realized volatility for stock index volatility forecast. The out-of-sample forecast results indicate that a combination of realized volatility and economic policy uncertainty in GARCH–MIDAS model can significantly improve the forecast performance of stock index volatility.
•The relationship between economic policy uncertainty and stock index volatility.•The significant impact of economic policy uncertainty on stock index volatility.•The significant improvement of the forecast performance of stock index volatility.
Fabrication of nerve conduits for perfectly repairing or replacing damaged peripheral nerve is an urgent demand worldwide, but it is also a formidable clinical challenge. In the last decade, with the ...rapid development of manufacture technologies, 3D printing and bioprinting have been becoming remarkable stars in the field of neural engineering. In this review, we explore that the biomaterial inks (hydrogels, thermoplastic, and thermoset polyesters and composite) and bioinks have been selected for 3D printing and bioprinting of peripheral nerve conduits. This review covers 3D manufacturing technologies, including extrusion printing, inkjet printing, stereolithography, and bioprinting with inclusion of cells, bioactive molecules, and drugs. Finally, an outlook on the future directions of 3D printing and 4D printing in customizable nerve therapies is presented.
Quality education is one of the pillars of UN sustainable development. The proposition was pointed out by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the National Conference on the University Ideological and ...Political Work that “Universities and colleges should be based on the moral and talent cultivation”. It was required to take the idea of “Moral and Talent Cultivation” as the university guiding idea and coordinate the development of all kinds of university work, starting from the university ideological and political work. Therefore, under the guidance of the idea of “Moral and Talent Cultivation”, this paper is aimed to construct a collaborative innovation system of the university ideological and political education with the whole curriculum, the whole process and the whole-staff cooperation so as to realize the comprehensive education.
This study applies big data processing technology and parallel computing methods to assess the teaching effect of Japanese in the Flipped Classroom (FC) and task-based teaching mode. We propose a ...model for evaluating the Japanese teaching effect in this mode using feature offset compensation. We employ distributed mining of association rules to detect the teaching effect and extract ontology information and association rules related to the distribution of Japanese teaching effect in the FC and task-based teaching mode. Furthermore, we construct a fuzzy decision-making model for evaluating the teaching effect. The joint information entropy characteristic value of the teaching effect deviation is calculated, and the extracted characteristic quantity is classified and identified using feature deviation compensation and the C-means clustering method. Based on the classification and identification results, we achieve accurate evaluation of the Japanese teaching effect in the FC and task-based teaching mode. Our simulation results demonstrate high precision rates and confidence levels in the evaluation of Japanese teaching effect in this mode.
To report the complications for percutaneous microwave (MW) ablation for the treatment of malignant liver tumors and the possible risk factors for complications in a large series of patients.
The ...study was approved by the institutional review board; informed consent was waived because of the retrospective design. Over a 13-year period, 1136 patients with 1928 malignant liver tumors underwent ultrasonographically guided percutaneous MW ablation (583 with a noncooled-shaft antenna and 553 with a cooled-shaft antenna). A total of 3697 MW ablation sessions (average, 1.8 sessions per patient) were performed. Mortality and treatment-related major and minor complications were documented. Data were subsequently analyzed to determine whether the major complication rate was related to antenna type, tumor size, tumor location, or number of MW sessions.
Two deaths not directly attributable to MW ablation were encountered. Major complications occurred in 30 (2.6%) patients and included liver abscess and empyema (n = 5), bile duct injury (n = 2), perforation of the colon (n = 2), tumor seeding (n = 5), pleural effusion requiring thoracentesis (n = 12), hemorrhage requiring arterial embolization (n = 1), and skin burn requiring resection (n = 3). Minor complications included fever; pain; asymptomatic pleural effusion, gallbladder wall thickening, and arterioportal shunt; small stricture of the bile duct; and skin burn requiring no treatment. Use of noncooled-shaft antenna and an increased number of MW ablation sessions were associated with a higher rate of major complications (P < .05).
MW ablation is a well-tolerated technique with an acceptably low rate of major complications for treatment of malignant liver tumors. Use of a cooled-shaft antenna, as well as fewer MW sessions, may help minimize major complications.
Entrepreneurial creativity is an important part of entrepreneurs' competency structure, and studies have been conducted to explore its impact on outcome variables like entrepreneurial performance, ...etc., but there are fewer studies on its antecedent variables at the individual level. In the relational model of entrepreneurial creativity, cognitive flexibility, entrepreneurial alertness, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are included to construct a mediated use spss26.0 model, and data are collected from a research sample of 325 entrepreneurs for empirical analysis. The results indicate that: cognitive flexibility has a positive effect on entrepreneurial creativity; entrepreneurial alertness plays an independent mediating role between cognitive flexibility and entrepreneurial creativity, which is similar to how entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays the role between cognitive flexibility and creativity; entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial self-efficacy then play a chain mediating role between cognitive flexibility and creativity. These findings reveal that three variables jointly influence entrepreneurial creativity, providing new theoretical and practical insights for understanding and enhancing entrepreneurial creativity. In addition, the study provides valuable guidance for entrepreneurship education and training, which can help entrepreneurs to better utilize their creativity and thus promote innovation and success in entrepreneurial activities.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer considered a public health emergency of international concern, research is ongoing to determine whether and how financial markets have been affected. Using ...an event study methodology, we examine Chinese stock reactions to breaking news about COVID-19 during 2020–2023, covering nine important events from the first declaration of the novel coronavirus to classifying COVID-19 from top category A to B in China. The empirical results show that the Chinese stock market reacts negatively to bad news, such as the breakout of COVID-19 and the dynamic zero-COVID strategy, and positively to good news, such as COVID-19 vaccine approvals, ending the zero-COVID strategy, and reopening boards. The overall intensity of reactions to bad news is stronger than that to good news. Small-sized stocks react more positively to good news and more negatively to bad news. Different industries have different reactions to different events; however, the sector that responds strongly and negatively to bad news does not have to respond strongly and positively to good news, which, to some extent, reflects their profitability performance during the pandemic. In China, consumer discretionary, utilities and real estate are the most negatively affected by the pandemic, while materials, health care, and energy are the most positively affected. This study has important implications for reminding market participants to pay attention to breaking news announcements about COVID-19.
•We examine Chinese stocks' reactions to breaking news about COVID-19 by the event study methodology.•Chinese stock market reacts negatively to bad news while positively to good ones.•The overall intensity of reaction for bad news is stronger than that for good ones.•Small-size stocks react more strongly to both good and bad news.•The sector which responses strongly and negatively to bad news does not have to response strongly and positively to good news.
•Thyroid endocrine disruption of F-53B was investigated combining in vitro, in vivo and in silico approaches.•The levels of thyroxine (T4) were significantly increased following F-53B exposure and ...depuration.•Gene transcription modulation in the HPT axis was examined.
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A Chinese perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) substitute frequently detected in the environment, 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (F-53B), has a similar structure to PFOS and it is proposed to cause thyroid dysfunction. To further confirm this hypothesis, the effects of F-53B on the thyroid endocrine system and underlying mechanisms were investigated in vitro and in vivo using rat pituitary GH3 cells and developing zebrafish, respectively. In GH3 cells, F-53B enhanced cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, indicative of thyroid receptor agonistic activity. In zebrafish larvae, F-53B exposure induced significant developmental inhibition and increased thyroxine (T4) but not 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) levels accompanied by a decrease in thyroglobulin (TG) protein and transcript levels of most genes involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Interestingly, T4 levels remained significantly increased while TG protein and gene transcription levels were markedly upregulated after depuration. Molecular docking studies revealed that F-53B binds to transthyretin (TTR) by forming hydrogen bonds with Lys123 and Lys115, thereby interfering with thyroid hormone homeostasis. Our collective in vitro, in vivo and in silico studies provide novel evidence that F-53B disrupts the thyroid endocrine system at environmentally relevant concentrations, which cannot be recovered after depuration. Given the persistence of F-53B in the environment, the long-term consequences of thyroid hormone disruption by this chemical warrant further investigation.
Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of microwave (MW) ablation and radiofrequency (RF) ablation using a single internally cooled probe in a hepatic porcine ...model. Materials and methods In the ex vivo experiment, MW ablations ( n = 40) were performed with a 2450 MHz and 915 MHz needle antenna, respectively at 60 W, 70 W power settings. Bipolar RF ablations ( n = 20) were performed with a 3-cm (T30) and 4-cm (T40) active tip needle electrodes, respectively at a rated power 30 W and 40 W according to automatically systematic power setting. In the in vivo experiment, the 2450 MHz and 915 MHz MW ablation both at 60 W and T30 bipolar RF ablation at 30 W were performed ( n = 30). All of the application time were 10 min. Long-axis diameter (Dl), short-axis diameter (Ds), ratio of Ds/Dl, the temperature data 5 mm from the needle and the time of temperature 5 mm from the needle rising to 54 °C were measured. Results Both in ex vivo and in vivo models, Ds and Dl of 915 MHz MW ablations were significantly larger than all the RF ablations ( P < 0.05); the Ds for all the 2450 MHz MW ablations were significantly larger than that of T30 RF ablations ( P < 0.05). 2450 MHz MW and T30 RF ablation tended to produce more elliptical-shaped ablation zone. Tissue temperatures 5 mm from the needle were considerably higher with MW ablation, meanwhile MW ablation achieved significantly faster rate of temperature rising to 54 °C than RF ablation. For in vivo study after 10 min of ablation, the Ds and Dl of 2450 MHz MW, 915 MHz MW and Bipolar RF were 2.35 ± 0.75, 2.95 ± 0.32, 1.61 ± 0.33 and 3.86 ± 0.81, 5.79 ± 1.03, 3.21 ± 0.51, respectively. Highest tissue temperatures 5 mm from the needle were 80.07 ± 12.82 °C, 89.07 ± 3.52 °C and 65.56 ± 15.31 °C and the time of temperature rising to 54 °C were respectively 37.50 ± 7.62 s, 24.50 ± 4.09 s and 57.29 ± 23.24 s for three applicators. Conclusion MW ablation may have higher potential for complete destruction of liver tumors than RF ablation.
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