Long-term survivals of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unfavorable, which is largely attributed to active carcinogenesis. Growing studies have suggested that the reliable gene ...signature could act as an independent prognosis factor for HCC patients. We tried to screen the survival-related genes and develop a prognostic prediction model for HCC patients based on the expression profiles of the critical survival-related genes. In this study, we analyzed TCGA datasets and identified 280 genes with differential expressions (125 increased genes and 155 reduced genes). We analyzed the prognosis value of the top 10 dysregulated genes in HCC patients and identified three critical genes, including FCN3, CDC20, and E2F1, which were confirmed to be associated with long-term survival in both TCGA and ICGC datasets. The results of the LASSO model screened CDC20 and FCN3 for the development of the prognostic model. The CDC20 expression was distinctly increased in HCC specimens, while the FCN3 expression was distinctly decreased in HCC. At a suitable cutoff, patients were divided into low-risk and high-risk groups. Survival assays revealed that patients in high-risk groups exhibited a shorter overall survival than those in low-risk groups. Finally, we examine the relationships between risk score and immune infiltration abundance in HCC and observed that risk score was positively correlated with infiltration degree of B cells, T cell CD4+ cells, neutrophil, macrophage, and myeloid dendritic cells. Overall, we identified three critical survival-related genes and used CDC20 and FCN3 to develop a novel model for predicting outcomes and immune landscapes for patients with HCC. The above three genes also have a high potential for targeted cancer therapy of patients with HCC.
Abstract
Glucose electrolysis offers a prospect of value-added glucaric acid synthesis and energy-saving hydrogen production from the biomass-based platform molecules. Here we report that ...nanostructured NiFe oxide (NiFeO
x
) and nitride (NiFeN
x
) catalysts, synthesized from NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheet arrays on three-dimensional Ni foams, demonstrate a high activity and selectivity towards anodic glucose oxidation. The electrolytic cell assembled with these two catalysts can deliver 100 mA cm
−2
at 1.39 V. A faradaic efficiency of 87% and glucaric acid yield of 83% are obtained from the glucose electrolysis, which takes place via a guluronic acid pathway evidenced by in-situ infrared spectroscopy. A rigorous process model combined with a techno-economic analysis shows that the electrochemical reduction of glucose produces glucaric acid at a 54% lower cost than the current chemical approach. This work suggests that glucose electrolysis is an energy-saving and cost-effective approach for H
2
production and biomass valorization.
Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and its copolymers are a family of biodegradable polymers with excellent biodegradability, thermoplastic processability and balanced mechanical properties. In this ...article, production of the monomers succinic acid and butanediol, synthesis, processing and properties of PBS and its copolymers are reviewed. The physical properties and biodegradation rate of PBS materials can be varied in a wide range through copolymerization with different types and various contents of monomers. PBS has a wide temperature window for thermoplastic processing, which makes the resin suitable for extrusion, injection molding, thermoforming and film blowing. Finally, we summarized industrialization and applications of PBS.
As the main candidates in the field of ultra‐high temperature ceramics, high entropy carbides/borides (HECs/HEBs) have good oxidation resistance properties, high hardness, as well as excellent ...thermal and electrical conductivities, which are the focused points of research nowadays. In the current study, (Hf,Ta,Zr,Nb,Mo,Ti)C powders were successfully synthesized by a three‐step process, including the mixing process of raw oxides and carbon black with spaying Fe(NO3)3 solution, carbothermal reduction and subsequent calcium posttreatment. For the preparation of (Hf,Ta,Zr,Nb,Mo,Ti)B2 powders, during the calcium posttreatment process, equal stoichiometric ratio of B4C was added for the purpose of boriding reaction. The relevant X‐ray diffraction and SEM characterizations indicate the successful preparations of face‐centered cubic HECs and hexagonal HEBs. However, slight Mo local segregation was found in the prepared (Hf,Ta,Zr,Nb,Mo,Ti)B2 powders. The iron generated from Fe(NO3)3 promotes the solid solution process between monocarbides during the carbothermal reduction process via the dissolution‐diffusion‐precipitation mechanism. In the calcium posttreatment process, the liquid calcium ensures the boriding reaction take place at a low temperature. In addition, the residual carbon could be combined with calcium to generate CaC2 which is easy to be removed by acid leaching, and meanwhile, the added Fe could also be finally eliminated to produce pure HEC/HEB powders. The current method does not require the long‐time high energy ball milling of raw materials, but only simple and mild mixing is enough. Therefore, such a facile route has a great potential application prospect for industrially preparing high entropy phase powders in a large scale.
Chlorine disinfection to drinking water plays an important role in preventing and controlling waterborne disease outbreaks globally. Nevertheless, little is known about why it enriches the antibiotic ...resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria after chlorination. Here, ARGs released from killed antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and culturable chlorine-injured bacteria produced in the chlorination process as the recipient, were investigated to determine their contribution to the horizontal transfer of ARGs during disinfection treatment. We discovered Escherichia coli, Salmonella aberdeen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis showed diverse resistance to sodium hypochlorite, and transferable RP4 could be released from killed sensitive donor consistently. Meanwhile, the survival of chlorine-tolerant injured bacteria with enhanced cell membrane permeabilisation and a strong oxidative stress-response demonstrated that a physiologically competent cell could be transferred by RP4 with an improved transformation frequency of up to 550 times compared with the corresponding untreated bacteria. Furthermore, the water quality factors involving chemical oxygen demand (COD
), ammonium nitrogen and metal ions (Ca
and K
) could significantly promote above transformation frequency of released RP4 into injured E. faecalis. Our findings demonstrated that the chlorination process promoted the horizontal transfer of plasmids by natural transformation, which resulted in the exchange of ARGs across bacterial genera and the emergence of new ARB, as well as the transfer of chlorine-injured opportunistic pathogen from non-ARB to ARB. Considering that the transfer elements were quite resistant to degradation through disinfection, this situation poses a potential risk to public health.
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective virus that completes its life cycle only with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The HBV with HDV super-infection has been considered as one of the most severe forms of ...the chronic viral hepatitis. However, there is a scarcity of data on the global burden of HDV infection.
We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and China Knowledge Resource Integrated databases from 1 January 1977 to 31 December 2016. We included studies with a minimum sample size of 50 patients. Our study analysed data from a total of 40 million individuals to estimate the prevalence of HDV by using Der-Simonian Laird random-effects model. The data were further categorised according to risk factors.
From a total of 2717 initially identified studies, only 182 articles from 61 countries and regions met the final inclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of HDV was 0.98% (95% CI 0.61 to 1.42). In HBsAg-positive population, HDV pooled prevalence was 14.57% (95% CI 12.93 to 16.27): Seroprevalence was 10.58% (95% CI 9.14 to 12.11) in mixed population without risk factors of intravenous drug use (IVDU) and high-risk sexual behaviour (HRSB). It was 37.57% (95% CI 29.30 to 46.20) in the IVDU population and 17.01% (95% CI 10.69 to 24.34) in HRSB population.
We found that approximately 10.58% HBsAg carriers (without IVDU and HRSB) were coinfected with HDV, which is twofold of what has been estimated before. We also noted a substantially higher HDV prevalence in the IVDU and HRSB population. Our study highlights the need for increased focus on the routine HDV screening and rigorous implementation of HBV vaccine programme.
Improvement of crop drought resistance and water-use efficiency (WUE) has been a major endeavor in agriculture. Arabidopsis ENHANCED DROUGHT TOLERANCE1/HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS11 (AtEDT1/HDG11), a ...homeodomain-START transcription factor we previously identified from the enhanced drought tolerance1 mutant (edt1), has been demonstrated to improve drought tolerance and WUE significantly in multiple plant species when constitutively overexpressed.
Here, we report the genetic evidence suggesting a genetic pathway, which consists of EDT1/HDG11, ERECTA, and E2Fa loci, and regulates WUE by modulating stomatal density. AtEDT1/HDG11 transcriptionally activates ERECTA by binding to homeodomain-binding (HD) cis-elements in the ERECTA promoter. ERECTA, in turn, depends on E2Fa to modulate the expression of cell cycle-related genes.
This modulation affects the transition from mitosis to endocycle, leading to increased ploidy levels in leaf cells, and therefore increased cell size and decreased stomatal density.
Our results suggest a possible EDT1/HDG11-ERECTA-E2Fa genetic pathway that reduces stomatal density by increasing cell size and provide a new avenue to improve WUE of crops.
Development of advanced dielectric materials with both high‐electric energy density and high‐temperature resistant attributes is highly desirable in modern electronics and electrical systems. Herein, ...a series of polyimide (PI)‐based sandwich‐structured dielectric nanocomposite films have been attempted to develop the advanced high‐temperature resistant capacitor films, wherein the boron nitride nanosheets/PI nanocomposite acts as the outer layers and the zinc oxide (ZnO)/PI as the middle layer. Benefitting from the merits of both fillers and the unique structure, the resulting nanocomposite films can simultaneously achieve both high‐dielectric constant and high‐breakdown strength, as well as low‐electrical conduction loss, thus leading to improved discharged energy densities (Ue) and charge/discharge efficiency (η) at elevated temperatures. It is found that the sandwich‐structured nanocomposite film with 0.4 vol% ZnO (0.4ZnO/PI‐S) can deliver a maximum Ue of 5.29 J cm−3 at 400 MV m−1 and 150°C, which is about 1.9 times that of the pristine PI film. Moreover, outstanding dielectric stability over 10,000 charge/discharge cycles has been demonstrated in such PI‐based sandwich‐structured nanocomposite films at 150°C and 200 MV m−1. This research may provide a new paradigm to explore polymer nanocomposites having excellent energy storage and efficiency at elevated temperatures.
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A multiscale dislocation-based model was built to describe, for the first time, the microstructural evolution and strain-hardening of {332}⟨113⟩ TWIP (twinning-induced plasticity) Ti ...alloys. This model not only incorporates the reduced dislocation mean free path by emerging twin obstacles, but also quantifies the internal stress fields present at β-matrix/twin interfaces. The model was validated with the novel Ti-11Mo-5Sn-5Nb alloy (wt.%), as well as an extensive series of alloys undergoing {332}⟨113⟩ twinning at various deformation conditions. The quantitative model revealed that solid solution hardening is the main contributor to the yield stress, where multicomponent alloys or alloys containing eutectoid β-stabilisers exhibited higher yield strength. The evolution of twinning volume fraction, intertwin spacing, dislocation density and flow stress were successfully described. Particular attention was devoted to investigate the effect of strain rate on the twinning kinetics and dislocation annihilation. The modelling results clarified the role of each strengthening mechanism and established the influence of phase stability on twinning enhanced strain-hardening. Strain-hardening stems from the formation of twin obstacles in early stages, whereas the internal stress fields provide a long-lasting strengthening effect throughout the plastic deformation. A tool for alloy design by controlling TWIP is presented.
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