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Jin-Tao Huang,&ast; Bin-Yan Zhong,&ast; Nan Jiang,&ast; Wan-Ci Li, Shuai Zhang, Yu Yin, Jun Yang, Jian Shen, Wan-Sheng Wang, Xiao-Li Zhu Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xiao-Li Zhu, Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 899, Pinghai Road, Suzhou, 215006, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 512 67780375, Email zhuxiaoli90@163.comObjective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) plus tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) (TACE+IT) versus ICIs plus TKIs (IT) for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Materials and Methods: Data of consecutive advanced HCC patients receiving TACE+IT or IT between January 2019 and December 2021 were included and were retrospectively analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce bias due to confounding variables. The primary outcome of the study was overall survival (OS). The secondary outcomes were progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and adverse events (AEs), respectively.Results: Sixty-four patients were enrolled in the study, among which 24 and 40 received TACE+IT and IT, respectively. The PSM cohort included 24 patients receiving TACE+IT (TACE+IT group) and 24 patients receiving IT (IT group) alone. During a median follow-up of 23 months, patients in TACE+IT group had significantly longer OS (median, 17.3 vs 11.8 months, P = 0.023), better ORR (41.7% vs 12.5%, P = 0.023) and DCR (79.2% vs 50.0%, P = 0.035) than those in the IT group, whereas a non-significant trend in PFS (median, 7.4 vs 6.7 months, P = 0.23) was observed. According to multivariable cox regression analysis, it was found that treatment modality was the only independent risk factor for OS (HR = 0.404, 95% CI = 0.179– 0.911, P < 0.05). There were no remarkable differences in AEs associated with ICIs and TKIs between the two groups, with the exception of gastrointestinal reaction.Conclusion: TACE combined with ICIs plus TKIs significantly improved OS, ORR, and DCR and showed a relatively longer PFS trend over ICIs combined with TKIs for advanced HCC.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, transarterial chemoembolization, immune checkpoint inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Effect of pore size on partial discharge in ultra-high voltage ceramic capacitors was investigated. Nondestructive ultrasonic detection was used to measure pore size in ceramics while the partial discharge characteristics were evaluated by a discharge detector. It is found that the partial discharge quantity and discharge inception voltage greatly depend on the size of the biggest pore in the ceramic. The partial discharge characteristics become worse when the inner pore is bigger. Possible explanation is discussed based on an equivalent circuit simulating the capacitor with one large pore.

Mo behavior in Fe-rich Mn-Zn ferrites during sintering process was studied by adding MoO3 or MnMoO4 as additive. The influences of the additive amounts and treatment temperatures on microstructure, density, porosity as well as magnetic properties were investigated. It is found that formation of MnMoO4 in the grain boundary plays an important role. Saturation flux density (Bs) at 373 K as high as about 513mT could be obtained when the equivalent Mo content is 133ppm. Based on the experimental results, a new hypothesis is proposed to explain why proper Mo addition is essential to obtain ferrites of good qualities.

Possible chemical states of molybdenum in Mn-Zn ferrite at high temperatures were investigated by experiments and thermodynamic calculations. It is found that solid or liquid MnMoO4(s,l) is the main Mo-containing phase during the sintering process of Mn-Zn ferrite up to about 1623 K, even if MoO3is employed as the additive. When temperature is higher than the melting point of MnMoO4, Mo in Mn-Zn ferrite tends to evaporate in form of Mo3O9(g) from thermodynamic point of view.

Cracking and chipping of MnZn Ferrites usually occur during the grinding process although proper additives such as V2O5can restrain development of cracks. To study the mechanisms, the effects of adding V2O5or ZrO2to MnZn ferrite were investigated by the rattler test. It was confirmed that adding V2O5could improve the toughness of MnZn ferrite while addition of ZrO2showed opposite result. Based on micro-structure analysis, it was found that adding V2O5increased ratio of intergranular fracture mode to the transgranular but adding ZrO2caused more transgranular cracks. Besides, V2O5addition changed its grain size distribution and resulted in some larger grains. Possible mechanisms of the toughness improvement were proposed according the above findings.

Doping effect of Sb on Pb-free barium strontium titanate was investigated. The Sb doped (Ba,Sr)TiO3 ceramics were prepared by solid reactions in 1473-1623 K by employing 0~1.2 wt% Sb2O5 as main additives. Density changes with sintering temperature were determined. The morphology and microstructure of the Sb doping samples were analyzed by SEM. The dielectric properties such as permittivity and dielectric loss were measured. It was found that addition of Sb benefited to low temperature high density sintering process. When the addition amount of Sb2O5 was about 0.6 wt%, the dielectric loss of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 was decreased from 1.9% to about 0.4% while the dielectric constant was kept over 2000. Possible mechanism of the improvement by Sb addition was discussed too.

MnZn ferrites have been widely used as magnetic core materials. It is well known that Ca addition is effective to obtain homogeneous microstructure of fine grains and highly resistive grain boundaries. However, the behaviors of calcium as one of the main additives at different temperature ranges during sintering process are not completely understood yet. In this study, the influence of CaCO3 content and sintering temperature on the microstructure was investigated in 1473-1623 K. It was found that there existed a critical temperature around 1550 K. The grain size decreased with the increase of Ca content when the sintering temperature was lower than the critical temperature, but completely opposite result was observed at higher temperatures range. Possible mechanisms were discussed. When the sintering temperature was lower than the critical temperature, Ca content greatly affected the grain boundary mobility and dominated the grain growth. At higher temperatures, however, formation of liquid phases might be the main cause for the grain growth.

Background: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), commonly used in building materials, electronics, plastics, polyurethane foams, and textiles, are health hazards found in the environment. Objective: In this study we investigated the effects of PBDE-209, a deca-PBDE, on the regulation of growth and apoptosis of breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer cells as well as the underlying protein alterations. Methods: We used MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR (multidrug-resistant MCF-7) breast cancer cell lines, the HeLa cervical cancer cell line, the OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cell line, and the normal CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cell line to assess the effects of PBDE-209 using cell viability, immunofluorescence, and flow cytometric assays. Western blot assays were used to detect changes in protein expression. To assess the effects of PBDE-209 on apoptosis, we used the protein kinase Cα (PKCα) inhibitor Go 6976, the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitor PD98059, and tamoxifen. Results: Our data indicate that PBDE-209 increased viability and proliferation of the tumor cell lines and in CHO cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. PBDE-209 also altered cell cycle distribution by inducing the S phase or G2/M phase. Furthermore, PBDE-209 partially suppressed tamoxifen-induced cell apoptosis in the breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR) but suppressed Go 6976- and PD98059-induced apoptosis in all cell lines. At the molecular level, PBDE-209 enhanced PKCα and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in the cell lines. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that PBDE-209 is able to promote proliferation of various cancer cells from the female reproductive system and normal ovarian CHO cells. Furthermore, it reduced tamoxifen, PKCα, and ERK inhibition-induced apoptosis. Finally, PBDE-209 up-regulated phosphorylation of PKCα and ERK1/2 proteins in tumor cells and in CHO cells.

A novel process of BaTiO3 manufacture was conducted by using supercritical water. Preparation of BaTiO3 nanoparticles was investigated from decomposition of BaTiO(C2O4)2•4H2O (BTOT) with aid of supercritical water for the first time. When BTOT was exposed to supercritical water around 673 K and 30 MPa, it decomposed quickly in 5-22 seconds. The products formed strongly reply on environmental conditions. BaCO3 and TiO2 were always observed as the products in the absence of alkaline additives. BaTiO3 nanoparticles with specific surface area as high as 12~14 m2/g were able to be obtained under strong alkaline conditions, such as NaOH/COSubscript text2=2/1. It was found that environment of supercritical water was better than sub-critical conditions to obtain high quality BaTiO3 particles with fewer defects. Employment of supercritical water significantly reduced the reaction time and temperature compared to other BaTiO3 manufacture processes utilizing BTOT as precursor.

To follow the fate of murine epidermal stem cells (ESCs) seeded in a syngeneic dermal equivalent implanted in vivo.Embryonic stem (ES) cells were induced in vitro to differentiate into ESCs. After stained with a fluorescent dye Hoechst 33342, these ESCs were seeded into a fibroblast-collagen-gelatin sponge complex, functioning as a dermal equivalent model, and implanted subcutaneously into 129/J mice, which were syngeneic to these stem cells. The fate of these cells was observed with HE staining, immunocytochemical staining or Van Gieson's staining.These ESCs were clearly visible in the implant by fluorescent microscopy 3 weeks or longer after implantation. These cells remained viable, differentiated into hair follicle-like structure, glandular structure, and gave rise to additional structures displaying features resembling native dermis. A number of markers were expressed in the differentiated structures, including CD29 (integrin beta1 subunit) and cytokeratin 18 (CK18). No apparent rejection or severe side effects were observed at least during the 10 weeks following implantation.Now that ESCs could survive in vivo in this dermal equivalent model, and differentiate into hair follicle-like structures as well as glandular structures, it is feasible to use these cells as seed cells in the study to fabricate dermal equivalent having the potential to develop dermal appendages.