Objective:To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients before and after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)and percutaneous ethanol injection(PEI)and its r...Objective:To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients before and after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)and percutaneous ethanol injection(PEI)and its relation to treatment response.Methods:A total of 40 patients with unrespectable hepatocelluar carcinoma were assessed clinically.Twenty patients were suitable to be treated by TACE,while other 20patients were treated with PEI.Serum VEGF levels were measured before and 1 month after each procedure by ELISA.Response was assessed after 1 month according to Union Internationale Contre le Cancer evaluation criteria based on change in tumor size as measured by ultrasound.Results:There was no significant difference between TACE and PEI groups with regard to age,sex,tumor size,response to local therapy,or VEGF and alpha-fetoprotein before and after therapy.VEGF levels after TACE were significantly higher than before TACE[(298.1±123.6)pg/m L vs.(205.8±307.3)pg/m L;P=0.001].Also,VEGF levels were significantly higher after PEI than before PEI[(333.8±365.6)pg/m L vs.(245.3±301.8)pg/m L;P=0.000].Non-responders of both groups had significantly high VEGF levels than responder's,both before[(985.0±113.2)pg/m L vs.(117.1±75.3)pg/m L;P<0.001]and after therapy[(1 330.6±495.7)pg/m L vs.(171.0±94.7)pg/m L;P=0.000)].Conclusions:Both TACE and PEI were associated with an increase in serum VEGF in hepatocelluar carcinoma patients.Higher levels of VEGF before and after therapy were found in non-responders,suggesting that VEGF is a useful marker in predicting treatment response.展开更多
AIM: To investigate midkine (MK) and syndecan-3 protein expression in pancreatic cancer by immunohistochemistry, and to analyze their correlation with clinicopathological features, perineural invasion, and prognosis.
Conventional annealing is a slow, high temperature process that involves heating atoms uniformly, i.e., in both defective and crystalline regions. This study explores an electrical alternative for energy efficiency,wh...Conventional annealing is a slow, high temperature process that involves heating atoms uniformly, i.e., in both defective and crystalline regions. This study explores an electrical alternative for energy efficiency,where moderate current density is used to generate electron wind force that produces the same outcome as the thermal annealing process. We demonstrate this on a zirconium alloy using in-situ electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD) inside a scanning electron microscope(SEM) and juxtaposing the results with that from thermal annealing. Contrary to common belief that resistive heating is the dominant factor, we show that 5 × 10~4 A/cm^2 current density can anneal the material in less than 15 min at only135?C. The resulting microstructure is essentially the same as that obtained with 600?C processing for360 min. We propose that unlike temperature, the electron wind force specifically targets the defective regions, which leads to unprecedented time and energy efficiency. This hypothesis was investigated with molecular dynamics simulation that implements mechanical equivalent of electron wind force to provide the atomistic insights on defect annihilation and grain growth.展开更多
Anodization is a popular method of preparing TiO2nanotube array films(TiNTs) by using direct current(DC)power as the driving voltage.In this study,three driving voltage modes,namely,the sine alternating current(s...Anodization is a popular method of preparing TiO2nanotube array films(TiNTs) by using direct current(DC)power as the driving voltage.In this study,three driving voltage modes,namely,the sine alternating current(sine) mode,the full-wave rectification of sine waves via four diodes(sine-4D,where D means diode) mode,and the DC mode,were used to prepare TiNTs by anodization.At 20 V,TiNTs were formed under sine-4D mode but only irregular porous TiO2films were formed under DC mode.At 50 V,TiNTs formed under both the sine-4D and DC modes.No TiNTs formed in the sine mode anodization at either 20 or 50 V.Compared with the DC mode,the sine-4D mode required a lower oxidation voltage for TiNT formation,which suggests that sine-4D is an economical,convenient,and efficient driving voltage for TiNT preparation by anodization.The morphologies and structures of TiNT samples anodized at 50 V in the sine-4D and DC modes at different oxidation time(1,5,10,30,60,and 120 min) were analyzed.TiNT growth processes were similar between the studied modes.However,the growth rate of the films was faster under the sine-4D mode than the DC mode during the first 30 min of anodization.展开更多
文摘Objective:To evaluate vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)levels in hepatocellular carcinoma patients before and after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE)and percutaneous ethanol injection(PEI)and its relation to treatment response.Methods:A total of 40 patients with unrespectable hepatocelluar carcinoma were assessed clinically.Twenty patients were suitable to be treated by TACE,while other 20patients were treated with PEI.Serum VEGF levels were measured before and 1 month after each procedure by ELISA.Response was assessed after 1 month according to Union Internationale Contre le Cancer evaluation criteria based on change in tumor size as measured by ultrasound.Results:There was no significant difference between TACE and PEI groups with regard to age,sex,tumor size,response to local therapy,or VEGF and alpha-fetoprotein before and after therapy.VEGF levels after TACE were significantly higher than before TACE[(298.1±123.6)pg/m L vs.(205.8±307.3)pg/m L;P=0.001].Also,VEGF levels were significantly higher after PEI than before PEI[(333.8±365.6)pg/m L vs.(245.3±301.8)pg/m L;P=0.000].Non-responders of both groups had significantly high VEGF levels than responder's,both before[(985.0±113.2)pg/m L vs.(117.1±75.3)pg/m L;P<0.001]and after therapy[(1 330.6±495.7)pg/m L vs.(171.0±94.7)pg/m L;P=0.000)].Conclusions:Both TACE and PEI were associated with an increase in serum VEGF in hepatocelluar carcinoma patients.Higher levels of VEGF before and after therapy were found in non-responders,suggesting that VEGF is a useful marker in predicting treatment response.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.U1204819the Health Science and Technology Innovation Talents Program of Henan Province,No.4203
文摘AIM: To investigate midkine (MK) and syndecan-3 protein expression in pancreatic cancer by immunohistochemistry, and to analyze their correlation with clinicopathological features, perineural invasion, and prognosis.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR 1609060)the US Department of Energy funding (DENE0008259)+1 种基金Funding by the Powder Metal Initiative (PMI) through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED),grant # C-000057477the Engineering Technology and Commonwealth Engineering (ETCE),Pennsylvania State University
文摘Conventional annealing is a slow, high temperature process that involves heating atoms uniformly, i.e., in both defective and crystalline regions. This study explores an electrical alternative for energy efficiency,where moderate current density is used to generate electron wind force that produces the same outcome as the thermal annealing process. We demonstrate this on a zirconium alloy using in-situ electron back scattered diffraction(EBSD) inside a scanning electron microscope(SEM) and juxtaposing the results with that from thermal annealing. Contrary to common belief that resistive heating is the dominant factor, we show that 5 × 10~4 A/cm^2 current density can anneal the material in less than 15 min at only135?C. The resulting microstructure is essentially the same as that obtained with 600?C processing for360 min. We propose that unlike temperature, the electron wind force specifically targets the defective regions, which leads to unprecedented time and energy efficiency. This hypothesis was investigated with molecular dynamics simulation that implements mechanical equivalent of electron wind force to provide the atomistic insights on defect annihilation and grain growth.
基金the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21277004, 21190051 and 41121004)the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, China (No. 8132035)
文摘Anodization is a popular method of preparing TiO2nanotube array films(TiNTs) by using direct current(DC)power as the driving voltage.In this study,three driving voltage modes,namely,the sine alternating current(sine) mode,the full-wave rectification of sine waves via four diodes(sine-4D,where D means diode) mode,and the DC mode,were used to prepare TiNTs by anodization.At 20 V,TiNTs were formed under sine-4D mode but only irregular porous TiO2films were formed under DC mode.At 50 V,TiNTs formed under both the sine-4D and DC modes.No TiNTs formed in the sine mode anodization at either 20 or 50 V.Compared with the DC mode,the sine-4D mode required a lower oxidation voltage for TiNT formation,which suggests that sine-4D is an economical,convenient,and efficient driving voltage for TiNT preparation by anodization.The morphologies and structures of TiNT samples anodized at 50 V in the sine-4D and DC modes at different oxidation time(1,5,10,30,60,and 120 min) were analyzed.TiNT growth processes were similar between the studied modes.However,the growth rate of the films was faster under the sine-4D mode than the DC mode during the first 30 min of anodization.