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Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. However, the precise mechanisms of the development and progression of HCC remain unclear. The present study attempted to identify and functionally analyze the differentially expressed genes between HCC and cirrhotic tissues by using comprehensive bioinformatics analyses. Methods: The GSE63898 gene expression profile was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and analyzed using the online tool GEO2R to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene ontology (GO) functional analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the DEGs were performed in DAVID. The STRING database was used to evaluate the interactions of DEGs and to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using Cytoscape software. Hub genes were selected using the cytoHubba plugin and were validated with the cBioPortal database. Results: A total of 301 DEGs were identified between HCC and cirrhotic tissues. The GO analysis results showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in certain biological processes including negative regulation of growth and cell chemotaxis. Several significant pathways, including the p53 signaling pathway, were identified as being closely associated with these DEGs. The top 12 hub genes were screened and included TTK, NCAPG, TOP2A, CCNB1, CDK1, PRC1, RRM2, UBE2C, ZWINT, CDKN3, AURKA, and RACGAP1 . The cBioPortal analysis found that alterations in hub genes could result in significantly reduced disease-free survival in HCC. Conclusion: The present study identified a series of key genes and pathways that may be involved in the tumorigenicity and progression of HCC, providing a new understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis in HCC.

Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) composite shows extraordinary thermal stability, chemical resistance, and processability. The interface between CF and PPS transfers the load, and its properties are crucial to determine composite properties such as mechanical performance, reliability, and so forth. This work explores the relationship between surface properties of CFs (with/without sizing layer) and the interfacial properties of CF/PPS composite. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope were employed to evaluate surface physicochemical properties of CFs, and reveal the increasing roughness and decreasing content of functional groups on the CF surface after desizing. Inverse gas chromatography and dynamic contact angle tests were adopted to characterize the surface energy of CFs, and present that the dispersive component of surface energy increases, while the polar component decreases, and the total surface energy is barely changed after desizing. Differential scanning calorimetry measurement reveals the increasing crystallinity of CF/PPS after CF desizing. Microbond test was performed to analyze interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of CF/PPS, displays that IFSS keeps almost constant after CF desizing. The results demonstrate that the surface energy of CF is important to the interfacial crystallinity, but not the critical factor for interfacial strength of CF/PPS composite.

A new titanium(III)-catalyzed reductive annulation constructed a series of diversely functionalized 1,5-diols in good to excellent yields with respect to a wide scope of vinyl epoxide-aldehyde substrates. Taken together with a Diels-Alder reaction and a substrate-controlled diastereoselective cyclopropanation as additional key steps, the synthetic utility of this novel method has been preliminarily explored by the first and concise total synthesis of the Euphorbia diterpenoid (±)-pepluanol A.