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The influence of ion irradiation on intrinsic lattice stress and phase transition is closely related to the irradiation resistance of high‐entropy ceramics. In this study, the ion‐induced response of high‐entropy‐stabilized o‐(ZrHfTiSn)O2 ceramic was investigated under Au2+ irradiation with different fluences. The results revealed that high‐fluence irradiation caused the minimal (orthorhombic‐to‐triclinic) phase transformation underneath the ion‐induced amorphous layer via. fast fourier transformation (FFT) pattern. The cation recombination led to cation rearrangement followed by the increase of lattice expansion induced stress. The lattice stability of residual crystal grains in the mixed layer was significantly improved after lattice rearrangement. This was evidenced by the fact that the X‐ray diffraction profile of the lattice remained unchanged, whereas the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) image exhibited drastic variations with the increase of irradiation fluence. Therefore, irradiation‐induced lattice rearrangement seems to be a reliable way to improve radiation resistance of high‐entropy ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Homeobox D9 (HOXD9), a member of the HOX family of transcription factors, plays a driver role in development of multiple cancers. Angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2) is reportedly to facilitate angiogenesis, growth and metastasis in various cancers, including lung cancer. In addition, blocking ANGPT2 can effectively improve cancer immunotherapy via downregulation of Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1). The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role of HOXD9 in NSCLC and whether ANGPT2 is required for HOXD9-mediated malignant behaviors of NSCLC cells. By performing a series of in vitro functional experiments, we found that knockdown of HOXD9 induced proliferative inhibition, cell cycle G1 arrest, apoptosis, migratory suppression and invasive repression of NSCLC cells. Reduced PD-L1 expression in NSCLC cells was observed after HOXD9 silencing. Besides, HOXD9 deletion decreased the expression of ANGPT2 in NSCLC cells. In line with this, HOXD9 overexpression led to opposite alteration in NSCLC cells. Mechanistically, ANGPT2 was transcriptionally activated by HOXD9. Forced expression of ANGPT2 significantly regulated HOXD9-mediated malignant phenotypes, and enhanced PD-L1 expression of NSCLC cells. Our results expressing HOXD9 may function as an oncogene in NSCLC via trans-activation of ANGPT2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of new phases in high-entropy ceramics can be induced by both heavy-ion irradiation and annealing, meaning that these transitions can simultaneously occur under high-temperature irradiation. Consequently, the radiation resistance of high-entropy ceramics can involve complex mechanisms upon this coupled environment. In this study, the irradiation resistance of the high-entropy (ZrHfTiSn)O 2 ceramic was investigated under heavy-ion irradiation at different temperatures. The results show that after irradiation, the secondary triclinic phase exists in all the ion-injected ranges. The triclinic phase can withstand irradiation, leading to dislocations that trigger a local increase in entropy and result in layered amorphization. Amorphization is accompanied by volume expansion that compresses adjacent regions, causing angular differences in the triclinic phase unit cell, and recrystallization of the amorphous region at 500 °C can release this compression. This study provides experimental data and theoretical support for further improving the radiation resistance of related materials. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-024-02522-9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial infarction(MI) causes prolonged ischemia of infarcted myocardial tissue, which triggers a wide range of hypoxia cellular responses in cardiomyocytes. Emerging evidence has indicated the critical roles of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs) in cardiovascular diseases, including MI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of lncRNA H19 and H19/HIF-1α pathway during MI. Results showed that cell injury and mitochondrial dysfunction were induced in hypoxia-treated H9c2 cells, accompanied by an increase in the expression of H19. H19 silencing remarkably diminishes cell injury, inhibits the dysfunctional degree of mitochondria, and decreases the injury of MI rats. Bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase assays revealed that H19 was the hypoxia-responsive lncRNA, and HIF-1α induced H19 transcription through direct binding to the H19 promoter. Moreover, H19 participates in the HIF-1α pathway by stabilizing the HIF-1α protein. These results indicated that H19 might be a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for myocardial infarction. [Display omitted] • H19 was induced by hypoxia and positively regulated by HIF-1α. • H19 regulates cell injury and mitochondria dysfunction through the HIF-1α pathway. • H19 inhibited the degradation of HIF-1α by enhancing the stability of HIF-1α protein. • H19 and HIF-1α may form a positive feedback loop during hypoxia. • H19 regulating myocardial ischemia injury and mitochondria dysfunction in MI rat model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the most common causes of sudden death with high morbidity in recent years. This paper is aimed at exploring the early peripheral blood biomarkers of sudden death and providing a new perspective for clinical diagnosis and forensic pathology identification by integrated bioinformatics analysis. Methods. Two microarray expression profiling datasets (GSE113079 and GSE31568) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and we identified differentially expressed lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs in CAD. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analyses of DEmRNAs were executed. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed, and hub genes were identified. Finally, we constructed a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulation network among lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs. Also, the 5 miRNAs of the ceRNA network were verified by RT-PCR. Results. In total, 86 DElncRNAs, 148 DEmiRNAs, and 294 DEmRNAs were dysregulated in CAD. We received 12 GO terms and 5 pathways of DEmRNAs. 31 nodes and 78 edges were revealed in the PPI network. The top 10 genes calculated by degree method were identified as hub genes. Moreover, there were a total of 26 DElncRNAs, 5 DEmiRNAs, and 13 DEmRNAs in the ceRNA regulation network. We validated the 5 miRNAs of the ceRNA network by RT-PCR, which were consistent with the results of the microarray. Conclusions. In this paper, a CAD-specific ceRNA network was successfully constructed, contributing to the understanding of the relationship among lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs. We identified potential peripheral blood biomarkers in CAD and provided novel insights into the development and progress of CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HUWE1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is involved in cancer cell proliferation by regulating MCL‐1 stability. The HECT domain has been shown to be required for the ubiquitin ligase activity of HUWE1. To identify efficient drugs that impair the activity of HUWE1, and thus decrease MCL‐1 accumulation, we screened 2000 candidate compounds that might suppress HUWE1 activity. To evaluate these 2000 candidates, the HECT domain of HUWE1, which is the catalytic domain responsible for MCL1 ubiquitination, was selected as a conjugation site, and putative binding candidates were filtrated. Tobramycin emerged as one of the compounds that show efficient binding ability with the HECT domain of HUWE1. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) results validated the specific binding of Tobramycin with the HECT domain. Subsequent analyses demonstrated its potential to inhibit cancer cell proliferation by binding to the HECT domain of HUWE1 and impeding the HUWE1‐mediated ubiquitination of MCL‐1. Consequently, the accumulation of MCL‐1 inhibited the proliferation of tumour cells, while the apoptosis rates were not significantly altered after Tobramycin treatment. In vitro experiments showed that Tobramycin could inhibit cell proliferation by regulating the G2/M transition in cancer cell models, including A549 and HeLaCaco2 cell lines. Our results indicated that Tobramycin could be a potential new probe to develop targeted therapies for the prevention or treatment of HUWE1‐overexpressing cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-temperature gate reliability of Schottky-type p-GaN gate AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors under forward gate voltage stress is investigated. Both temperature-accelerated and voltage-accelerated time-dependent gate breakdown stress experiments are performed. The p-GaN gate exhibits a shorter time-to-failure at a lower temperature. It is found that the time-to-failure at "use conditions" predicted by acceleration tests at high gate bias stress could be overestimated at low temperatures. Such a discrepancy stems from the distinct dominant gate leakage mechanisms at high/low gate bias stress conditions. The dominant physical mechanism of the low-temperature gate leakage current is identified to be Poole–Frenkel emission at low gate bias and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling at high bias. From the physical model, a more accurate lifetime projection can be obtained for given use conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we carried out a systematic investigation on gate degradation and the physical mechanism of the Schottky-type ${p}$ -GaN gate HEMTs under positive gate voltage stress. The frequency- and temperature-dependent measurements have been conducted. It is found that the time-dependent gate degradation exhibits weak relevance with frequencies ranging from 10 to 100 kHz under dynamic gate stress and is similar to that in static gate stress. Both the gate breakdown voltage (BV) and mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) show positive temperature dependence. Moreover, the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and threshold voltage (${V}_{\text {TH}}$) instability of ${p}$ -GaN devices before/after gate degradation are compared and analyzed. The degraded Schottky junction exhibits an ohmic-like gate behavior. It is revealed that under a large gate bias stress, high-energy electrons accelerated in the depletion region of the ${p}$ -GaN layer would promote the formation of defect levels near the metal/ ${p}$ -GaN interface, leading to the initial ${p}$ -GaN layer degradation. The subsequent high gate leakage density could cause the final degradation of the AlGaN barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of lithium-ion battery capacity is important for battery management systems. Traditional deep learning algorithms assume in advance that the training and test data satisfy independent identical distribution (IID). However, this ideal assumption reduces the generalizability of related methods because the battery operating conditions are often diverse. To address this issue, an unsupervised constrained adversarial domain adaptation method based on causal analysis, attention mechanism and Mogrifier-LSTM (CAM-LSTM-DA) is proposed. First, causal analysis is used to select health indicators (HIs) that are intrinsically associated with capacity degradation, ensuring that the constructed model is valid for the target domain. Then, we adopt Mogrifier-LSTM with key-value pair attention mechanism as the primary network, forcing the learned embedding to have rich degradation information. Finally, to avoid the negative transfer brought by traditional domain adaptation methods, we propose a constrained adversarial domain adaptation method that uses a self-supervised learning module with dynamic temperature and a semantic information constraint module to constrain feature alignment in terms of temporal and semantic information, respectively. The extensive cross-conditions experiments validate the generalizability and prediction performance of the proposed method. • Present a novel domain adaptation method for battery capacity estimation. • Effective constraints for reducing the likelihood of negative transfer. • Causal analysis improves the accuracy and robustness of model. • The proposed method is well adaptable to different working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrB 2 –SiC composite ceramics with different compositions (20 and 60 vol% ZrB 2 –SiC, 20ZS and 60 ZS, respectively) were prepared. Wear tests were conducted on the obtained ceramics in multiple distances using ball-on-flat tribotester. Volume loss and cross-sectional profiles of samples were measured by three–dimensional (3D) profilometer to study the onset of track wear damages. Pressure–depth curves and hardness were measured by indentation to investigate defects produced in the tribo-film by the debris. The debris of 20ZS was found to be joined to the tribo-film and accumulated with distance, shifting from microcrack (＜10,000 cycles) to abrasive wear (50,000 cycles). Compared to 20ZS, lower debris accumulation of 60ZS resulted in better wear resistance, leading to thinner and more stable non-substrate regions for this sample. These differences between both samples basically resulted from different particle sizes. Fine grains were easily pulled out in the experiment, resulting in abrasive wear of the specimen. While transgranular fracture of grains and the pinning led to larger grains with less debris, the damage mode remained transgranular fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we carried out a systematic comparison between the enhancement-mode GaN-based fully recessed metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MIS-FETs) and partially recessed MIS-high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs) with the same gate dielectric stack (LPCVD-SiNx/PECVD-SiNx) that has delivered promising long-term reliability and stability. Despite a moderately larger on-resistance (${R}_{ \mathrm{ON}}$), the MIS-FETs deliver superior ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ uniformity and thermal stability. Under long-term gate bias stress, both the MIS-HEMT and MIS-FET deliver similar small positive-bias temperature instability, while the negative-bias temperature instability of the MIS-HEMT is much larger than that of MIS-FET. The MIS-FET also delivers a higher ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ stability than the MIS-HEMT under dynamic gate bias stress. It is suggested that the differences in ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ stability mainly originate from the different spatial separation between the trap states and the conducting channel, with it being larger in MIS-HEMT than in MIS-FET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrB 2 –SiC composite ceramics with varying compositions (6.4, 22.3, and 61.5 vol% ZrB 2 –SiC) were synthesized and spark plasma sintered (SPS) for 30 min under argon atmosphere. Ceramics showed relatively uniformly distributed phases with small spherical crystallized grains. Vickers hardness and fracture toughness of ceramics were measured, and scratch and tribological behaviors of sintered ceramic specimens were also investigated. According to experimental results, materials having different inter- and trans-granular fractures showed different wear loss, friction efficient, and tribofilm morphology. Ceramics chemically reacted with moisture while being tribotested, leading to the formation of a tribofilm on the bottom of wear track. Characteristics of silica/hydride silica revealed the formation of tribofilms with different morphologies, thereby implying that several key factors are involved in determining the efficiency of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconium diboride/silicon carbide (ZrB 2 -SiC) nanocomposite powder, wherein each and every particle is a nanocomposite, was successfully synthesized by pyrolyzing a hybrid polymeric precursor produced from a Zr-containing precursor and a solid polycarbosilane precursor. The synthesis and ceramic conversion of the hybrid precursor was studied by thermal gravimetric analysis-differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. The microstructure of the obtained nanocomposite powder was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The resulting powder was found to consist of uniformly distributed highly spherical ZrB 2 nanoparticles embedded within the SiC matrix, which demonstrated the success of the proposed synthesis route. Thus, in this study, a different perspective was used in synthesizing ZrB 2 -SiC nanocomposites, which act as potential candidates for aerospace applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrB 2 –SiC(Al/Y) ceramic composites were prepared by hot-pressing a mixture of ZrB 2 and polymer-derived SiC doped with either aluminium or yttrium (SiC(Al/Y)). The obtained composites were oxidized at 1700 °C in air. The weight change as a function of the oxidation time was measured to study the oxidation kinetics. It was found that the ZrB 2 –SiC(Al/Y) composites exhibited significantly improved oxidation resistance, as compared to the composite of ZrB 2 with un-doped SiC. The structure of the oxide resulted from the oxidation of the composites was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results suggested that the improvement can be attributed to the formation of yttrium/aluminium-doped silica and/or yttrium disilicate, which effectively protect the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quick and accurate prediction of future capacity is a challenging issue in the field of battery health management. To solve this problem, the paper proposes a data-driven model based on advanced machine-learning techniques. First, wavelet transform is used to denoise the initial features, and the relatively important features are selected with the help of random forest. Second, the paper uses the approximate entropy theory to construct multi-time scale sliding window data to solve the problem that the sliding window size can not be determined in traditional methods. Third, in order to overcome the disadvantages of traditional methods, such as the comparative inefficiency in converging and using temporal contextual information, the paper proposes a novel mogrifier long short-term memory network denoted as QGA-ASM-LSTM, which is based on attention mechanism and similarity judgment mechanism, using quantum genetic algorithm to optimize its parameters. Finally, the proposed data-driven method is used to model the degradation of lithium-ion batteries and finish the fast capacity prediction. The results of experiments on different public datasets demonstrate that the performance of QGA-ASM-LSTM exceeds the state-of-the-art models in terms of prediction accuracy and training time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ceramic (Zr 0.25 Hf 0.25 Ti 0.25 Sn 0.25)O 2 with orthorhombic structure were synthesized. • This paper reports a new way of preparing single phase orthorhombic oxide. • The changes in thermal conductivity attributed to the reversible transition. Lattice structure, phase evolution, and thermal conductivities were studied for multicomponent complex high entropy oxides (HEOs) synthesized using quaternary mixture containing different binary oxides (ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , TiO 2 , and SnO 2). The lattice structure of four-component (Zr 0.25 Hf 0.25 Ti 0.25 Sn 0.25)O 2 ceramics varying from those of several types of starting powders to single lattice structure exhibited orthorhombic phase. The resultant thermal conductivities of (Zr 0.25 Hf 0.25 Ti 0.25 Sn 0.25)O 2 ceramics exhibited increasing and decreasing trend below and above 900 °C, respectively. This phenomenon is mainly attributed to the reversible transformation characteristics of HEO, which lead to the changes in lattice distortion, resulting in increase and decrease in thermal conductivity, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study uncovered that HectH9 drives glycolysis and tumor development by K63-linked ubiquitination of Hexokinase 2 (HK2). This mechanism is critical for HK2 localization to mitochondria for activating HK2's functions in glycolysis promotion and apoptosis inhibition, suggesting that targeting HectH9 is a new strategy to tackle metabolism-addicted tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

R2251 --> Treatment of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains challenging due to a lack of effective targeted therapies. Dysregulated glucose uptake and metabolism are essential for TNBC growth. Identifying the molecular drivers and mechanisms underlying the metabolic vulnerability of TNBC is key to exploiting dysregulated cancer metabolism for therapeutic applications. Mitogen‐inducible gene‐6 (MIG‐6) has long been thought of as a feedback inhibitor that targets activated EGFR and suppresses the growth of tumors driven by constitutive activated mutant EGFR. Here, our bioinformatics and histological analyses uncovered that MIG‐6 is upregulated in TNBC and that MIG‐6 upregulation is positively correlated with poorer clinical outcomes in TNBC. Metabolic arrays and functional assays revealed that MIG‐6 drives glucose metabolism reprogramming toward glycolysis. Mechanistically, MIG‐6 recruits HAUSP deubiquitinase for stabilizing HIF1α protein expression and the subsequent upregulation of GLUT1 and other HIF1α‐regulated glycolytic genes, substantiating the comprehensive regulation of MIG‐6 in glucose metabolism. Moreover, our animal studies demonstrated that MIG‐6 regulates GLUT1 expression in tumors and subsequent tumor growth in vivo. Collectively, this work reveals that MIG‐6 is a novel prognosis biomarker, metabolism regulator, and molecular driver of TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coalbed methane (CBM) is an unconventional natural gas that possesses significant impacts on energy supply, mining safety, and environmental conservation. CBM is primarily stored within the pores of coal, highlighting the significance of pore structures for both methane storage and migration. However, comprehensively understanding the intricate pore structures in coal pose challenges. This study employed focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) tomography and deep learning-based segmentation to characterize the pore structures within a Chinese anthracite sample. The obtained pore structures exhibited a considerable degree of disconnection, comprising numerous separate pore components. Isolated pores prevailed in number, while connected pores dominated in surface area and pore volume. Mesopores (100–1000 nm) contributed the most to pore number, surface area, and pore volume. Pore size distribution analysis revealed distinct patterns among different pore structure properties, with pore number exhibiting an intensive distribution while surface area and pore volume displaying dispersed distributions. Pore structure connectivities exhibited a hierarchical nature and held distinct meanings at the levels of pore, pore component, and pore network. The pore structure characteristics observed in this study have implications for primary CBM recovery, emphasizing the necessity to improve connectivity between pore components and fractures to enhance production rates and recoverability. • Reconstructed the pore structure in Chinese anthracite using FIB-SEM and deep learning-based segmentation. • Characterized the pore structure through visualized morphological pore structures and computed pore network data. • Clarified the hierarchical pore structure connectivities. • Discussed the significance of pore structure in relation to primary CBM recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitin ligase RNF8 is known to induce epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal (EMT) transition and metastasis in triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC). Besides EMT, Rho GTPases have been shown as key regulators in metastasis. In this study, we investigated the role of RNF8 in regulating Rho GTPases and cell motility. We find that RNF8 knockdown in TNBC cells attenuates the protein and mRNA levels of Ras homolog family member A (RHOA) and cell division cycle 42 (CDC42). We show that the formation of filopodia, focal adhesions, and the association of focal adhesions to stress fibers is impaired upon RNF8 knockdown. Cell migration is significantly inhibited by RNF8 knockdown. Our study suggests a potential novel role for RNF8 in mediating cell migration in TNBC through regulation of the Rho GTPases RHOA and CDC42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical and tribological performances of densified polymer-derived C-SiC nanocomposites containing in situ formed nano-carbon were studied. The hardness, elastic modulus, and fracture toughness of the nanocomposites decreased while increasing the carbon volume from 5% to 16%. Compared with monolithic SiC, all the nanocomposites showed higher toughness as a result of the crack deflection and bridging of the carbon phase. The wear mechanism included mechanical wear (micro-crack), abrasive wear, carbon lubrication, and humidity-driven tribochemical reactions. Wear resistance was found to be mainly controlled by both the hardness and the crystal size of SiC. 6%-DP, with the smallest SiC crystal size, showed the highest wear resistance among the samples studied though with a lower hardness herein. The small SiC crystal size was important in accelerating the formation of a tribo-oxidation-film and contributed to increase the fraction of transgranular fractures, both improving wear resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer-related death in worldwide, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. Surgery, platinum-based chemotherapy, molecular targeted agents and radiotherapy are the main treatment of NSCLC. With the strategies of treatment constantly improving, the prognosis of NSCLC patients is not as good as before, new sort of treatments are needed to be exploited. Programmed death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 play a key role in tumor immune escape and the formation of tumor microenvironment, closely related with tumor generation and development. Blockading the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway could reverse the tumor microenvironment and enhance the endogenous antitumor immune responses. Utilizing the PD-1 and/or PD-L1 inhibitors has shown benefits in clinical trials of NSCLC. In this review, we discuss the basic principle of PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and its role in the tumorigenesis and development of NSCLC. The clinical development of PD-1/PD-L1 pathway inhibitors and the main problems in the present studies and the research direction in the future will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is known to stimulate angiogenesis and thus to influence the proliferation, migration and survival of tumor cells. Many studies examined the relationship between human bFGF overexpression and survival in lung cancer patients, but the results have been mixed. To systematically summarize the clinical prognostic function of bFGF in lung cancer, we performed this systematic review with meta-analysis. Method: Studies were identified by an electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases, including publications prior toAugust 2014. Pooled hazard ratios (HR) for overall survival (OS) were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed by meta-analysis. Results: Twenty-two studies (n = 2154) were evaluated in the meta-analysis. Combined HR suggested that bFGF overexpression had an adverse impact on survival of patients with lung cancer(HR = 1.202,95%CI, 1.022–1.382). Our subgroup analysis revealed that the combined HR evaluating bFGF expression on OS in operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was 1.553 (95%CI, 1.120–1.986); the combined HR in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was 1.667 (95%CI, 1.035–2.299). There was no significant impact of bFGF expression on survival in advanced NSCLC. Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that bFGF overexpression is a potential indicator of worse prognosis for patients with operable NSCLC and SCLC, but is not associated with outcome in advanced NSCLC. The data suggests that high bFGF expression is highly related to poor prognosis. Nevertheless,more high-quality studies should be performed in order to provide additional evidence for the prognostic value of bFGF in lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniform Al2O3:Eu3+microfibres were synthesized via a hydrothermal route and heat treatment (1173 K/2 h) of a precursor of Eu3+-doped ammonium aluminium hydroxide carbonate (NH4Al(OH)2CO3). The length and diameter of these Eu3+-doped Al2O3microfibres are about 4–7 μm and 400 nm, respectively. Upon excitation at 394 nm, the orange-red emission bands were from5D0 → 7FJ(J = 1, 2) transitions. The asymmetry ratio of (5D0 → 7F2)/(5D0 → 7F1) intensity is about 0.99, 1.43, 2.24, 2.40, 1.63 for the Eu3+concentration 0.05, 0.30, 0.70, 0.90 and 1.20 mol-%, respectively. These values suggest that the asymmetry ratio of Eu3+ions is related to the doping concentration. The maximum doping concentration of Eu3+ions in Al2O3is 0.9 mol-%. According to Dexter’s theory, the critical distance between Eu3+ions for energy transfer was determined to be 17 Å. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threshold voltage (VTH) of an enhancement-mode Schottky-type p-GaN gate high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) is found to have a special dependence on the drain bias. The device commonly requires higher gate voltage to switch on the transistor from a high-drain-voltage off-state than what is expected from the static device characteristics. The reason behind the dynamic VTH has been proved to be the floating p-GaN layer, where charges could be stored and further influence VTH under different drain bias. In this article, a SPICE-compatible equivalent circuit model is presented according to the structure of Schottky-type p-GaN gate HEMTs. It features a floating node to imitate the charge storage process within the gate stack. Compared to conventional models, the proposed model could accurately predict the dynamic VTH characteristics and switching behaviors of power electronics circuits, where Schottky-type p-GaN gate HEMTs are deployed as power transistors. The phenomena related to the dynamic VTH, including the disappearance of Miller plateau, the overestimated false-turn-on problem, and the higher reverse conduction loss are evaluated with a half-bridge circuit and the merits of the proposed model are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic characterizations of a cascode device with a low-voltage enhance-mode (E-mode) p-GaN gate high-electron mobility transistor as the control device and a high-voltage (HV) depletion-mode (D-mode) silicon carbide junction field effect transistor (JFET) as the voltage blocking device are presented in this article. The demonstrated device with a breakdown voltage rating of 1200 V and a static on-resistance (RON) of 100 mΩ features small device capacitances with fast switching speed, avalanche breakdown capability, thermally stable threshold voltage (VTH), and no dynamic RON degradation. To identify its safe operation in the off-state with a high drain bias, the off-state middle point voltage (VM) between the E-mode device drain and D-mode device source is investigated. A relatively low off-state VM is achieved under both static and dynamic modes. In addition to the device-level characterization, a custom-designed double-pulse test circuit is built to evaluate the transient switching performance of the cascode device. Optimal gate drive conditions are proposed to 1) overcome the drain bias induced positive dynamic VTH shift; and 2) suppress the increased dynamic off-state leakage current (IOFF) induced by on-state hole injection. Under 800 V/16 A testing conditions, high switching speed with the drain voltage peak slew rates of 72 V/ns during turn-on and 121 V/ns during turn-off is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials have achieved several breakthroughs in the capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) over the past decades. However, artificial fabrication of label‐free nanomaterials used for high‐efficiency CTC capture is still a challenge. Through billions of years of evolution and natural selection, various complicated and precise hierarchical structures are developed. Here, a novel fish trap‐like "nanocage" structure derived from the natural Chrysanthemum pollen is reported and a nanocage‐featured film for the label‐free capture of CTCs and CTC clusters is constructed. The nanocage‐featured film effectively captures 92% rare cancer cells with a broad spectrum of cancer types, due to the synergistic effect of nanocage‐CTC filopodia matching, high contact area, and strong adhesion force between the cancer cells and the nanocage. Furthermore, the nanocage‐featured film successfully detects CTCs and CTC clusters in 2 or 4 mL blood taken from 21 cancer patients (stages I–IV) suffering from various types of cancers. This novel, abundant, and economical fish trap‐like "nanocage" may provide new perspectives for the application of natural nanomaterials in clinical CTC capture and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: While type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been associated with increased all-cause mortality among women diagnosed with breast cancer (BC), the association between T2D and breast cancer-specific (BCS) mortality is unresolved. The goal of this study was to examine the association between T2D and BCS mortality and examine the influence of metformin treatment on mortality rates. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted between 2002 and 2008 at Emory University Hospitals among non-Hispanic black and white women who had confirmed diagnosis of stage I-III BC and known diabetes status (T2D: n = 73; non-T2D: n = 514). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Compared to non-T2D patients, T2D women had almost a 2-fold increase in BCS mortality after adjusting for covariates (HR = 2.01; 95%CI = 1.02–3.98). Though attenuated, the increased hazard of death was also observed for all-cause mortality (HR = 1.74; 95%CI = 1.06–2.87). T2D patients who were not on metformin had substantially higher hazard of BCS mortality compared to non-diabetic patients (HR = 4.54; 95%CI = 1.98–10.44), whereas the association among T2D patients treated with metformin was weak (HR = 1.20; 95%CI = 0.36–3.97) and included the null. Conclusions: Among women with BC, T2D is associated with increased BCS mortality. Metformin treatment for T2D during the initial diagnosis of BC may improve outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted reliability characterization under reverse-bias stress (i.e., stress at OFF-state with high VDS) on the E-mode GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MIS-FETs) with various substrate terminations. The MIS-FETs with floating substrate (FS) show worse threshold voltage (VTH) stability than that with a grounded substrate. A non monotonic dependence of VTH shifts and OFF-state time-to-breakdown (tbd) on the positive substrate bias (Vsub) was also observed. The underlying mechanisms are the different impacts of positive Vsub on the drift of electrons and holes during the long-term stress. An important indication is that positive-biased and FS terminations should be restricted at OFF-state in order to obtain good VTH stability in applications of the GaN MIS-FET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA is the template for hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. The lack of small animal models for characterizing chronic HBV infection has hampered research progress in HBV pathogenesis and drug development. Here, we generated a spatiotemporally controlled recombinant cccDNA (rcccDNA) mouse model by combining Cre/loxP-mediated DNA recombination with the liver-specific "Tet-on/Cre" system. The mouse model harbors three transgenes: a single copy of the HBV genome (integrated at the Rosa26 locus, RHBV), H11-albumin-rtTA (spatiotemporal conditional module), and (tetO) 7 -Cre (tetracycline response element), and is named as RHTC mouse. By supplying the RHTC mice with doxycycline (DOX)-containing drinking water for two days, the animals generate rcccDNA in hepatocytes, and the rcccDNA supports active HBV gene expression and can maintain HBV viremia persistence for over 60 weeks. Persistent HBV gene expression induces intrahepatic inflammation, fibrosis, and dysplastic pathology, which closely mirrors the disease progression in clinical patients. Bepirovirsen, an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) targeting all HBV RNA species, showed dose-dependent antiviral effects in the RHTC mouse model. The spatiotemporally controlled rcccDNA mouse is convenient and reliable, providing versatile small animal model for studying cccDNA-centric HBV biology as well as evaluating antiviral therapeutics. • DOX-containing drinking water induces recombinant episomal HBV cccDNA formation in mouse. • Persistent rcccDNA and active HBV gene expression in the liver. • Liver pathology partially recapitulates disease progression observed in chronic hepatitis B patients. • Versatile mouse model for preclinical assessment of anti-HBV drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under reverse-bias stress (i.e., OFF-state stress with ${V} _{\text {GS}} < {V}_{\text {TH}}$) with high drain voltage, ultraviolet (UV) illumination and larger negative gate bias are found to accelerate the positive shift in threshold voltage (${V}_{\text {TH}}$) of enhancement-mode GaN MIS-FETs with fully recessed gate. These results suggest a hole-induced degradation mechanism. In the absence of UV illumination, holes could be generated by impact ionization in the high electric-field region, which is initiated by electrons injected from the source through the buffer layer. With a larger negative gate bias, more holes will flow to the gate side and pass through the silicon nitride (SiNx) gate dielectric, as SiNx does not present any energy barrier to holes. The enhanced hole transport through the dielectric under large negative gate bias could accelerate new defects generation and therefore result in the larger positive threshold voltage shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is among the leading causes of cancer-associated mortality worldwide, with a low 5-year survival rate of 16.1%. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms behind lung cancer tumorigenesis remain largely unknown. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to serve a function in the tumorigenesis of multiple types of cancer. The objective of the present study was to identify the function of a newly identified lncRNA zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 2 antisense RNA 1 (ZEB2-AS1) in human lung cancer. Results demonstrated that the transcript level of ZEB2-AS1 in human lung cancer was markedly upregulated in vivo and in vitro. The knockdown of ZEB2-AS1 in A549 and NCI-H292 cells, and the overexpression of ZEB2-AS1 in H-125 and H1975 cells, altered colony formation and cell proliferative rate, as examined using colony formation and cell proliferation assays. Western blot analysis revealed that the knockdown of ZEB2-AS1 in A549 and NCI-H292 cells increased the protein levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), caspase-3 and - 9, upregulated the relative activities of caspase-3 and -9, and had no observable effect on caspase-8 activity. Similarly, the overexpression of ZEB2-AS1 in H-125 and H1975 cells resulted in decreased expression of caspase-3, caspase-9, Bcl-2 and Bax. The results identified the effects of lncRNA ZEB2-AS1 on lung cancer progression through promoting its proliferation and inhibiting cell apoptosis, indicating that ZEB2-AS1 may serve as a novel prognostic factor for the diagnosis and treatment of human lung cancer in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A new cellulolytic strain of Chryseobacterium genus was screened from the dung of a cattle fed with cereal straw. A putative cellulase gene (cbGH5) belonging to glycoside hydrolase family 5 subfamily 46 (GH5_46) was identified and cloned by degenerate PCR plus genome walking. The CbGH5 protein was overexpressed in Pichia pastoris, purified and characterized. It is the first bifunctional cellulase–xylanase reported in GH5_46 as well as in Chryseobacterium genus. The enzyme showed an endoglucanase activity on carboxymethylcellulose of 3237 μmol min−1 mg−1 at pH 9, 90 °C and a xylanase activity on birchwood xylan of 1793 μmol min−1 mg−1 at pH 8, 90 °C. The activity level and thermophilicity are in the front rank of all the known cellulases and xylanases. Core hydrophobicity had a positive effect on the thermophilicity of this enzyme. When similar quantity of enzymatic activity units was applied on the straws of wheat, rice, corn and oilseed rape, CbGH5 could obtain 3.5–5.0× glucose and 1.2–1.8× xylose than a mixed commercial cellulase plus xylanase of Novozymes. When applied on spent mushroom substrates made from the four straws, CbGH5 could obtain 9.2–15.7× glucose and 3.5–4.3× xylose than the mixed Novozymes cellulase+xylanase. The results suggest that CbGH5 could be a promising candidate for industrial lignocellulosic biomass conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]