Clinical study on multi-focused laser in the treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus.

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of Multi-focused (MF) laser in the treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS). Methods: In this single-center, randomized controlled trial, we compared the effect of fractionated MF laser with other treatments on patients with biopsy-proven VLS. Patients with VLS were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into three groups. Patients in the experimental group were treated with a CO2 laser, control group 1 was treated with radiofrequency, and control group 2 was treated topically with glucocorticoids and soaking with Chinese patent medicine. The pruritus degree, skin elasticity, skin color, lesion scope, and total score were compared before treatment, at one month after treatment, and three months after treatment. Results: One month after treatment, the pruritus degree, skin elasticity, skin color, lesion scope, and total score decreased in the experimental group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). In control group 1, the differences in pruritus degree, skin color, and total score were statistically significant (P < 0.05), but the differences in skin elasticity and lesion scope were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In control group 2, the differences in pruritus degree and total score were statistically significant (P < 0.05), but the differences in skin elasticity, skin color, and lesion scope were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). At one month after the end of treatment, the differences in pruritus degree, skin elasticity, skin color, lesion scope, and total score among the three groups were not statistically significant. At three months after the end of treatment, the differences in the scores of the five indicators were statistically significant. Conclusion: For the three treatment methods for VLS, topical corticosteroids + traditional Chinese medicine can quickly relieve itching symptoms in patients, but it cannot significantly improve skin elasticity, skin color, and lesion scope, and VLS easily relapses after treatment. Radiofrequency can improve itching symptoms and skin color but has poor effects on the change of skin elasticity and lesion scope. Multi-focused laser treatment can alleviate the degree of pruritus, improve skin color and elasticity, and narrow the lesion scope, and VLS will not relapse within three months after treatment.

Enhanced Si Passivation and PERC Solar Cell Efficiency by Atomic Layer Deposited Aluminum Oxide with Two-step Post Annealing.

In this study, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) films were prepared by a spatial atomic layer deposition using deionized water and trimethylaluminum, followed by oxygen (O2), forming gas (FG), or two-step annealing. Minority carrier lifetime of the samples was measured by Sinton WCT-120. Field-effect passivation and chemical passivation were evaluated by fixed oxide charge (Qf) and interface defect density (Dit), respectively, using capacitance-voltage measurement. The results show that O2 annealing gives a high Qf of - 3.9 × 1012 cm-2, whereas FG annealing leads to excellent Si interface hydrogenation with a low Dit of 3.7 × 1011 eV-1 cm-2. Based on the consideration of the best field-effect passivation brought by oxygen annealing and the best chemical passivation brought by forming gas, the two-step annealing process was optimized. It is verified that the Al2O3 film annealed sequentially in oxygen and then in forming gas exhibits a high Qf (2.4 × 1012 cm-2) and a low Dit (3.1 × 1011 eV-1 cm-2), yielding the best minority carrier lifetime of 1097 µs. The SiNx/Al2O3 passivation stack with two-step annealing has a lifetime of 2072 µs, close to the intrinsic lifetime limit. Finally, the passivated emitter and rear cell conversion efficiency was improved from 21.61% by using an industry annealing process to 21.97% by using the two-step annealing process.

Thyroid cancer 1 (C8orf4) shows high expression, no mutation and reduced methylation level in lung cancers, and its expression correlates with ß-catenin and DNMT1 expression and poor prognosis.

Thyroid cancer 1 (TC1, C8orf4) plays important roles in tumors. The aim of this study was to examine the protein expression levels, methylation status, and mutational status of TC1 (C8orf4) in lung cancers, and investigate the correlation between TC1, other members of the Wnt signaling pathway, and lung cancer. TC1 expression levels were assessed via immunohistochemical staining in 179 cases of lung cancer. ß-catenin, TCF4, Axin, Disabled-2, Chibby, and DNA methyltransferase-1 (DNMT1) expressions were also examined. Bisulfite sequencing PCR analysis was used to examine the methylation status of the C8orf4 locus, while PCR analysis and direct sequencing were used to determine its mutational status. We found high TC1 expression correlated with poor differentiation, advanced TNM stage, lymphatic metastasis, and poor prognosis in lung cancer patients. TC1 expression also correlated with ß-catenin and DNMT1 expressions. No mutations in C8orf4 were detected. However, methylation levels of C8orf4 in lung cancers were lower than in corresponding normal lung tissues. In conclusion, high TC1 expression is implicated in lung cancer progression and correlates with poor prognosis in lung cancer. Reduced methylation levels might be responsible for the elevated TC1 expression levels. TC1, ß-catenin, and DNMT1 can synergistically activate Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in lung cancers.

The high expression of TC1 (C8orf4) was correlated with the expression of ß-catenin and cyclin D1 and the progression of squamous cell carcinomas of the tongue.

Thyroid cancer 1 (TC1, C8orf4) plays important roles in many signaling pathways, such as Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, and is involved in the development of many cancers. The objective of this study was to examine the expression of TC1 and investigate the associations among TC1, ß-catenin, Chibby, cyclin D1, and the clinicopathological factors of oral tongue squamous cell carcinomas (OTSCCs). The expressions of TC1, ß-catenin, Chibby, and cyclin D1 were examined in 109 cases of OTSCCs using immunohistochemistry. The expression of TC1 was observed in all cases of OTSCCs but was negative or weak in normal squamous epithelial tissues of tongue. The high expression of TC1 was correlated with the advanced TNM stage (P = 0.042), the abnormal expression of ß-catenin (correlation coefficient = 0.314, P = 0.001) and the expression of cyclin D1 (correlation coefficient = 0.274, P = 0.006) in OTSCCs. But we did not find any associations between TC1 and Chibby. The abnormal expression of ß-catenin was correlated with the poor differentiation (P = 0.035), advanced TNM stage (P = 0.048) and the expression of cyclin D1 (correlation coefficient = 0.422, P < 0.001). In conclusion, the high expression of TC1 was common in OTSCCs and correlated with the expression of ß-catenin and cyclin D1 and the progression of OTSCCs. The high expression level of TC1 might promote the progression of OTSCCs by enhancing the activity of Wnt signaling pathway.

Expression of Nemo-like kinase was increased and negatively correlated with the expression of TCF4 in lung cancers.

Nemo-like kinase (NLK), as a mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)-like kinase, is involved in the development of several human cancers. In this study, we explored the expression of NLK in lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma tissues, and investigated the associations among NLK, ß-catenin, T-cell factor 4 (TCF4), and the clinicopathological factors of lung cancers. The expressions of NLK, ß-catenin, TCF4 were examined in 109 cases of lung cancers using immunohistochemistry method. The expression of NLK was observed in the nuclei of lung cancer tissues, and was significantly higher in lung cancer tissues than that in corresponding normal lung tissues (t = 21.636, n = 109, P < 0.001). The high expression of NLK was found in 45 cases of lung SCCs (45/49, 91.84%), which was much more than that in adenocarcinomas (38/60, 63.33%) (P = 0.001). Furthermore, the high expression of NLK was negatively correlated with TCF4 expression and positively correlated with the membranous expression of ß-catenin. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the expression of NLK was localized in nucleus and significantly increased in lung cancers. The expression of NLK was negatively correlated with TCF4 expression and positively correlated with ß-catenin membranous expression in lung cancers.