A systematic pan-cancer analysis identifies LDHA as a novel predictor for immunological, prognostic, and immunotherapy resistance.

Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), a critical enzyme involved in glycolysis, is broadly involved multiple biological functions in human cancers. It is reported that LDHA can impact tumor immune surveillance and induce the transformation of tumor-associated macrophages, highlighting its unnoticed function of LDHA in immune system. However, in human cancers, the role of LDHA in prognosis and immunotherapy hasn't been investigated. In this study, we analyzed the expression pattern and prognostic value of LDHA in pan-cancer and explored its association between tumor microenvironment (TME), immune infiltration subtype, stemness scores, tumor mutation burden (TMB), and immunotherapy resistance. We found that LDHA expression is tumor heterogeneous and that its high expression is associated with poor prognosis in multiple human cancers. In addition, LDHA expression was positively correlated with the presence of mononuclear/macrophage cells, and also promoted the infiltration of a range of immune cells. Genomic alteration of LDHA was common in different types of cancer, while with prognostic value in pan-cancers. Pan-cancer analysis revealed that the significant correlations existed between LDHA expression and tumor microenvironment (including stromal cells and immune cells) as well as stemness scores (DNAss and RNAss) across cancer types. Drug sensitivity analysis also revealed that LDHA was able to predict response to chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Furthermore, it was confirmed that knockdown of LDHA reduced proliferation and migration ability of lung cancer cells. Taken together, LDHA could serve as a prognostic biomarker and a potential immunotherapy marker.

High DC-Bias Stability and Reliability in BaTiO3-Based Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors: The Role of the Core-Shell Structure and the Electrode.

With the miniaturization of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and the increase of the electric field on a single dielectric layer, dielectric constant DC-bias stability and reliability have gradually aroused attention in the advanced electronics industry. In this study, MLCCs with outstanding DC-bias stability and reliability were prepared by using dielectric ceramic optimization and electrode optimization strategies. The effect of the Dy-Y doping concentration on the microstructure, dielectric properties, and reliability of BaTiO3-based ceramics was investigated. The shell ratio and effective shell doping concentration of the core-shell structure in ceramic grains play important roles in defects and electrical performances. The ceramic with appropriate doping contents shows a dielectric constant of 1800 and a dielectric constant change rate of -17% under a DC field of 4 kV/mm, which was fabricated into prototype MLCCs with different Ni electrodes. MLCCs exhibit outstanding DC-bias stability with a -28% degradation in the dielectric constant under a DC field of 4 kV/mm while possessing a dielectric constant of 2300 and satisfying the EIA X7S specification. Additionally, it was discovered that MLCCs prepared by using fine-size Ni particle electrodes have low electrode roughness and high interfacial Schottky barriers, resulting in better reliability. This study provides promising candidate materials and theoretical references for high-end and high DC-bias stability MLCCs.

Mixed Solvents in Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) Electronic Paste and Their Effects on the Properties of Organic Vehicle.

The copper end paste used in multilayer ceramic capacitors sintered in nitrogen atmosphere leads to carbon residues of organic vehicles, which leads to a reduction in electrode conductivity and high scrap rate. With an attempt to leave no residue in the sintering, the compatibility of solvents and thickeners should be improved because it has an important influence on the hierarchical volatilization and carbon residue of organic vehicles. In this work, the volatility of different solvents was compared, and several solvents were mixed in a definite proportion to prepare an organic vehicle with polyacrylate resins. The hierarchical volatility and solubility parameters of mixed solvents were effectively adjusted by changing proportions of different components. The thermogravimetric curves of resins and organic vehicles were measured by thermogravimetric analyzer, and the effect of solubility parameter on the dissolvability of resins in the solvent and the residual of organic vehicles were studied. Results showed that the hierarchical volatilization of solvents can be obtained by mixing different solvents; the intrinsic viscosity of the organic vehicle is higher, and the thermal decomposition residue of polyacrylate resins is lower when the solubility parameters of mixed solvents and polyacrylate resins are closer. The low residual sintering of organic vehicles can be achieved by using a mixed solvent with hierarchical volatility and approximate solubility parameters as resins.

Multiphase Engineered BNT-Based Ceramics with Simultaneous High Polarization and Superior Breakdown Strength for Energy Storage Applications.

Dielectric ceramics are crucial for high-temperature, pulse-power energy storage applications. However, the mutual restriction between the polarization and breakdown strength has been a significant challenge. Here, multiphase engineering controlled by the two-step sintering heating rate is adopted to simultaneously obtain a high polarization and breakdown strength in 0.8(0.95Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-0.05SrZrO3)-0.2NaNbO3 (BNTSZNN) ceramic systems. The coexistence of tetragonal (T) and rhombohedral (R) phases benefits the temperature stability of BNTSZNN ceramics. Increasing the heating rate during sintering reduces the diffusion of SrZrO3 and NaNbO3 into Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3, which results in a high proportion of the R phase and a finer grain size. The overall polarization is enhanced by increasing the proportion of the high-polarization R phase, which is demonstrated using a first-principles method. Meanwhile, the finer grain size enhances the breakdown strength. Following this design philosophy, an ultrahigh Wdis of 5.55 J/cm3 and η above 85% is achieved in BNTSZNN ceramics as prepared with a fast heating rate of 60 °C/min given a simultaneously high polarization of 43 µC/cm2 and high breakdown strength of 350 kV/cm. Variations in the discharge energy density from room temperature to 160 °C are less than 10%. Additionally, such BNTSZNN ceramics exhibit an ultrafast discharge speed with τ0.9 at approximately 60 ns, which shows great potential in pulse-power system applications.

Binary Solvent Systems for Piezoelectric Printing Crack-Free PAM/ZrOx Hybrid Thin Films through Nanostructure Modulation.

Polymer/oxide hybrid thin films, which have excellent electrical and mechanical performance, can be effectively fabricated through the sol-gel process, showing great potential in the future printed electronics. However, gelation of polymer/oxide ink systems can easily occur during a thermal process in which case capillary stress can lead to the crack of printed films due to the long period of stress accumulation. To solve this problem, the effect of different solvent systems on formed PAM/ZrOx hybrid films, which were printed by piezoelectric printing, was studied in this paper, including single solvent systems of glycol and binary solvent systems of glycol and water. The result showed that the microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of hybrid nanostructures formed in different solvent systems varied significantly, and crack behavior can be regulated by simply adjusting the water volume ratio of the solvent system. The crack formation was significantly inhibited when the water volume ratio reached 25%.

Bias Stress Stability of Solution-Processed Nano Indium Oxide Thin Film Transistor.

In this paper, the effects of annealing temperature and other process parameters on spin-coated indium oxide thin film transistors (In2O3-TFTs) were studied. The research shows that plasma pretreatment of glass substrate can improve the hydrophilicity of glass substrate and stability of the spin-coating process. With Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, it is found that In2O3 thin films prepared by the spin coating method are amorphous, and have little organic residue when the annealing temperature ranges from 200 to 300 °C. After optimizing process conditions with the spin-coated rotating speed of 4000 rpm and the annealing temperature of 275 °C, the performance of In2O3-TFTs is best (average mobility of 1.288 cm2·V-1·s-1, Ion/Ioff of 5.93 × 106, and SS of 0.84 V·dec-1). Finally, the stability of In2O3-TFTs prepared at different annealing temperatures was analyzed by energy band theory, and we identified that the elimination of residual hydroxyl groups was the key influencing factor. Our results provide a useful reference for high-performance metal oxide semiconductor TFTs prepared by the solution method.

Next-generation sequencing for D47N mutation in Cx50 analysis associated with autosomal dominant congenital cataract in a six-generation Chinese family.

BACKGROUND: Congenital cataract is the most frequent cause of blindness during infancy or early childhood. To date, more than 40 loci associated with congenital cataract have been identified, including at least 26 genes on different chromosomes associated with inherited cataract. This present study aimed to identify the genetic mutation in a six-generation Chinese family affected with congenital cataract. METHODS: A detailed six-generation Chinese cataract family history and clinical data of the family members were recorded. A total of 27 family members, including 14 affected and 13 unaffected individuals were recruited. Whole exome sequencing was performed to determine the disease-causing mutation. Sanger sequencing was used to confirm the results. RESULTS: A known missense mutation, c. 139G > A (p. D47N), in Cx50 was identified. This mutation co-segregated with all affected individuals and was not observed in the unaffected family members or in 100 unrelated controls. The homology modeling showed that the structure of the mutant protein was different with that wild-type Cx50. CONCLUSIONS: The missense mutation c.139G > A in GJA8 gene is associated with autosomal dominant congenital cataract in a six-generation Chinese family. The result of this present study provides further evidence that the p. D47N mutation in CX50 is a hot-spot mutation.