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In the microenvironment of breast cancer, immune cell infiltration is associated with an improved prognosis. To identify immune-related prognostic markers and therapeutic targets, we determined the lymphocyte-specific kinase (LCK) metagene scores of samples from breast cancer patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas. The LCK metagene score correlated highly with other immune-related scores, as well as with the clinical stage, prognosis and tumor suppressor gene mutation status (BRCA2, TP53, PTEN) of patients in the four breast cancer subtypes. A weighted gene co-expression network analysis was performed to detect representative genes from LCK metagene-related gene modules. In two of these modules, the levels of the co-expressed genes correlated highly with LCK metagene levels, so we conducted an enrichment analysis to discover their functions. We also identified differentially expressed genes in samples with high and low LCK metagene scores. By examining the overlapping results from these analyses, we obtained 115 genes, and found that 22 of them were independent predictors of overall survival in breast cancer patients. These genes were validated for their prognostic and diagnostic value with external data sets and paired tumor and non-tumor tissues. The genes identified herein could serve as diagnostic/prognostic markers and immune-related therapeutic targets in breast cancer.

Aluminum alloy surfaces with micro/nano-structures were fabricated via a simple chemical etching (CE) method. After chemical modification with perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PFDS), n-octadecyltriethoxysilane (OTS) and aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS), surfaces with different wettability were obtained. The morphology and chemical elements of the as-prepared surfaces were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the influence of the surface morphology and chemical modification on the wetting/dewetting properties was investigated. Finally, the anti-corrosion and tribological properties of the as-prepared self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were characterized using an electrochemical workstation and UMT-3 tribometer. The influence of surface morphology and SAMs on the anti-corrosion and tribological performances is discussed in detail. The results showed that the optimal preparation conditions consisted of a 40% volume fraction of hydrochloric acid with a CE time of 2 min. The corrosion resistance of the surfaces chemically modified with hydrophobic groups was much better than that of those modified with hydrophilic groups. Also, the combination of micro/nano-structures and suitable SAMs on aluminum alloy surfaces could greatly enhance the friction reduction and wear resistance behavior.

The effect of austenitizing temperature on mechanical properties of 00Cr9Ni9Co5Mo3 corrosion resistant maraging steel has been investigated. The results show that the recrystallization temperature of experimental steel is 850 °C. The austenite formed by non-diffusion reverse α'→γ transformation inherit high density defects of the forging structure when solution treatment temperature is below recrystallization temperature. High-hardened martensite is formed during the cooling, the strength keeps a high level. Meanwhile, high-hardened austenite improves the resistance of γ→α' transformation in the cooling process, which leads to more retained austenite in the steel and guarantees good low temperature toughness. The increasing of the pretreatment can further improve the low temperature toughness. When the pretreatment is added, the low temperature toughness is improved further, and the mechanical properties of materials are stable with the fluctuation of pretreatment temperature.