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Breast cancer is the most prevalent neoplasm affecting women globally, of which a notable proportion of cases are triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, there are limited curative treatment options for patients with TNBC, despite advancements in the field. Amino acids and amino acid transporters serve vital roles in the regulation of tumor metabolism. Notably, cystine and cysteine can interconvert via a redox reaction, with cysteine exerting control on cell survival and growth and exogenous cystine serving a crucial role in the proliferation of numerous types of cancers. Breast cancer has been reported to disrupt the cystine/cysteine metabolism pathway, as cystine and cysteine transporters affect the development and growth of tumors. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the metabolic pathways involving cystine and cysteine in normal and TNBC cells. Furthermore, the roles of cystine and cysteine transporters in TNBC progression and metastasis and their potential as therapeutic targets for treatment of TNBC are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the platelet/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (PHR) and the prevalence of nephrolithiasis within the adult population of the United States. Methods: The data used in this study were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2007 and 2018. The analysis included a non-pregnant population aged 20 years or older, providing proper PHR index and nephrolithiasis data. The research utilized subgroup analyses and weighted univariate and multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the independent association between the PHR and the susceptibility to nephrolithiasis. Results: The study comprised 30,899 participants with an average PHR value of 19.30 ± 0.11. The overall prevalence rate of nephrolithiasis was estimated at 9.98% with an increase in the higher PHR tertiles (T1, 8.49%; T2, 10.11%; T3, 11.38%, P < 0.0001). An elevated PHR level was closely linked with a higher susceptibility to nephrolithiasis. Compared with patients in T1, and after adjusting for potential confounders in model 2, the corresponding odds ratio for nephrolithiasis in T3 was 1.48 (95% CI: 1.06 to 2.08), with a P-value = 0.02. The results of the interaction tests revealed a significant impact of chronic kidney disease on the relationship between PHR and nephrolithiasis. Furthermore, the restricted cubic spline analyses exhibited a positive, non-linear correlation between PHR and the risk of nephrolithiasis. Conclusion: A convenient biomarker, the PHR, was independently associated with nephrolithiasis and could be a novel biomarker in predicting occurrence in clinical decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mounting evidence indicates that inhibition of microglial activation and neuronal pyroptosis plays important roles in brain function recovery after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). LDC7559 is a newly discovered gasdermin D (GSDMD) inhibitor. Previous studies have demonstrated that LDC7559 could inhibit microglial proliferation and pyroptosis. However, the beneficial effects of LDC7559 on SAH remain obscure. Based on this background, we investigated the potential role and the mechanism of LDC7559 on SAH-induced brain damage both in vivo and in vitro. The findings revealed that microglial activation and neuronal pyroptosis were evidently increased after SAH, which could be markedly suppressed by LDC7559 both in vivo and in vitro. Meanwhile, LDC7559 treatment reduced neuronal apoptosis and improved behavior function. Mechanistically, LDC7559 decreased the levels of GSDMD and cleaved GSDMD after SAH. In contrast, nod-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation by nigericin increased GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis and abated the beneficial effects of LDC7559 on SAH-induced brain damage. However, LDC7559 treatment did not significantly affect the expression of NLRP3 after SAH. Taken together, LDC7559 might suppress neuronal pyroptosis and microglial activation after SAH by inhibiting GSDMD, thereby promoting brain functional recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lin28 is involved in the progression of several types of tumors. Data collected from clinical trials have suggested that Lin28 expression is correlated with poor prognosis in thyroid carcinoma. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between Lin28 expression and the clinicopathological parameters of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Accordingly, the clinical data and diagnostic results from 237 patients with PTC were collected. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to evaluate the Lin28 expression levels in thyroid tissue samples. Associations between the expression levels and clinicopathological parameters were evaluated. Lin28 was expressed in 96/237 (40.5%) of PTC specimens. Compared with patients with no Lin28 expression, patients with expression had higher rates of lymph node metastasis (P<0.001) and larger tumors (P=0.011). Multivariate analysis revealed that Lin28 was associated with lymph node metastasis. Next, bioinformatics analysis was performed based using the Gene Expression Omnibus database and The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Lin28 expression was associated with aggressive tumor characteristics, such as lymph node metastasis and larger tumors. In conclusion, the present study revealed that Lin28 expression served as a risk factor for lymph node metastasis. Accordingly, Lin28 expression may be used as a prognostic marker to predict lymph node metastasis in patients with PTC. In addition, Lin28 may serve as a therapeutic target in the management of this tumor type, which may help improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasonable capacity configurations of distributed energy system are issues which need to be discussed. Determinate design without considering variations in energy load and energy prices can result in non-achievement of project targets during its service life. Therefore, a design method that takes into account uncertain factors takes precedence over other methods. In this paper, a three-stage optimization method is proposed to provide theoretical guidance on the optimization of combined cooling, heating, and power system configurations. The first two stages link the optimization of the operation strategy and equipment capacities simultaneously under current load and energy prices. The Monte-Carlo simulation is applied in the third stage to fully consider the effects of various possible scenarios, and the Tabu search algorithm was introduced for system optimization. The comprehensive benefits include energy consumption, economy, and emission level. These were taken into consideration in the objective function. Moreover, a detailed design process was presented to illustrate the application of the proposed method. In conclusion, the proposed method is not only suitable for the design of combined cooling, heating, and power system, but could easily extend to other energy system easily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide in women. The molecular mechanism for human breast cancer is unknown. Gene microarray has been widely used in breast cancer research to identify clinically relevant molecular subtypes as well as to predict prognosis survival. So far, the valuable multigene signatures in clinical practice are unclear, and the biological importance of individual genes is difficult to detect, as the described signatures virtually do not overlap. Early prognosis of this disease, breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), is vital in breast surgery. Methods: Thus, this study reports gene expression profiling in large breast cancer cohorts from Gene Expression Omnibus, including GSE29044 (N=138) and GSE10780 (N=185) test series and four independent validation series GSE21653 (N=266), GSE20685 (N=327), GSE26971 (N=276), and GSE12776 (N=204). Significantly differentially expressed genes in human breast IDC and breast DCIS were detected by transcriptome microarray analysis. Results: We created a set of three genes (MAMDC2, TSHZ2, and CLDN11) that were significantly correlated with disease-free survival of breast cancer patients using a univariate Cox regression model (significance level P,0.01) in a meta-analysis. Based on the risk score of the three genes, the test series patients could be separated into low-risk and high-risk groups with significantly different survival times. This signature was validated in the other three cohorts. The prognostic value of this three-gene signature was confirmed in the internal validation series and another four independent breast cancer data sets. The prognostic impact of one of the three genes, CLDN11, was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. CLDN11 was significantly overexpressed in human breast IDC as compared with normal breast tissues and breast DCIS. Conclusion: Using novel gene expression profiling together with a meta-analysis validation approach, we have identified a three-gene signature with independent prognostic impact. Furthermore, CLDN11 may offer a biomarker to predict prognosis as well as a new target for prognostic and therapeutic intervention for human breast IDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most commonly occurring malignant tumor in Europe and America. Normal and neoplastic growth of prostate gland are dependent on androgen receptor (AR) expression and function. PCa is driven by androgen and its receptor, and they continue to be the key drivers of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CRPC is the terminal stage of PCa and seriously jeopardizes the patient's quality of life and lifespan. miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs, 18-25 nt in length that destabilize mRNA or repress protein synthesis by interacting with the 3′-untranslated regions (3'-UTR) of target mRNAs. miRNAs can regulate AR or be regulated by AR and then affect various signaling pathways related to cellular functions and tumor processes. In this review, we focus on the relationship between miRNAs and AR in PCa and elucidate their roles in the induction of malignant changes in PCa. © 2014 The Authors IUBMB Life published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 66(6):379-386, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In thiswork, a methodology for characterizing reservoir pore pressure and permeability during underbalanced drilling of horizontal wells was presented. The methodology utilizes a transient multiphase wellbore flow model that is extended with a transient well influx analytical model during underbalanced drilling of horizontal wells. The effects of the density behavior of drilling fluid and wellbore heat transfer are considered in our wellbore flow model. Based on Kneissl's methodology, an improved method with a different testing procedure was used to estimate the reservoir pore pressure by introducing fluctuations in the bottomhole pressure. To acquire timely basic data for reservoir characterization, a dedicated fully automated control real-time data monitoring system was established. The methodology is applied to a realistic case, and the results indicate that the estimated reservoir pore pressure and permeability fit well to the truth values from well test after drilling. The results also show that the real-time data monitoring system is operational and can provide accurate and complete data set in real time for reservoir characterization. The methodology can handle reservoir characterization during underbalanced drilling of horizontal wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered expressions of mitochondria elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) have been observed in certain types of cancers, including gastric cancer cell lines, but the impact of the alterations in gastric adenocarcinoma remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of EF-Tu in gastric adenocarcinoma and to assess its clinical significance. A total of 104 paired resected gastric adenocarcinoma and corresponding normal specimens were collected in this study. EF-Tu expression was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. The correlation of EF-Tu expression and patients clinicopathological parameters was statically evaluated and the prognostic significance of EF-Tu expression was assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses. Forty-nine out of 104 (47.1%) gastric adenocarcinoma specimens showed high expression of EF-Tu, while the remaining 55 specimens showed weak or negative expression of EF-Tu. In contrast, EF-Tu high expression was detected in 62.5% (65 of 104) normal tissues. Down-regulation of EF-Tu was associated with serosal invasion (P = 0.042) and node involvement (P = 0.005), and down-regulation of EF-Tu was correlated with poor overall survival (P = 0.020). In curative resection (R0) patients, there were also significant differences (P = 0.043). In the multivariate analysis, the EF-Tu expression remained a significant independent prognostic factor (P = 0.038). Our results indicate that EF-Tu is expressed in both gastric adenocarcinoma and corresponding normal tissues. Down-regulation of EF-Tu expression is associated with advanced disease stage and EF-Tu expression maybe served as an independent prognostic factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study presents the case of a 56-year-old female, with thyroid nodules showing signs of malignancy under B-mode ultrasonography, who was admitted to Shaoxing People's Hospital. A histopathological examination revealed the coexistence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and thyroid tuberculosis (TB). A total thyroidectomy and selective neck dissection (left side, levels III, IV and VI) were performed. This report presents a rare case showing the malignant growth of thyroid nodules and the development of thyroid TB, which implicates the possible role of mycobacterial infection in the tumorigenesis of PTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary abdominal extraskeletal osteosarcoma (EOS) is a rare carcinoma. The present study reports a case of a primary abdominal EOS involving the greater omentum and also presents a review of the literature on the etiology, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, pathological features, treatment and prognosis of the disease. The patient in the present study underwent laparoscopic surgery. A pathological examination revealed that the tumor tissues contained malignant and primitive spindle cells with varying amounts of neoplastic osteoid and osseous or cartilaginous tissue. The post-operative follow-up appointments were scheduled at three-month intervals for two years. The tumor recurred three months after the surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]