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Autophagy has a dual role in the maintenance of cancer stem cells (CSCs), but the precise relationship between autophagy and cancer stemness requires further investigation. In this study, it was found that luminal and triple-negative breast cancers require distinct therapeutic approaches because of their different amounts of autophagy flux. We identified that autophagy flux was inhibited in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) CSCs. Moreover, miRNA-181a (miR-181a) expression is upregulated in both TNBC CSCs and patient tissues. Autophagy-related 5 (ATG5) and autophagy-related 2B (ATG2B) participate in the early formation of autophagosomes and were revealed as targets of miR-181a. Inhibition of miR-181a expression led to attenuation of TNBC stemness and an increase in autophagy flux. Furthermore, treatment with curcumin led to attenuation of cancer stemness in TNBC CSCs; the expression of ATG5 and ATG2B was enhanced and there was an increase of autophagy flux. These results indicated that ATG5 and ATG2B are involved in the suppression of cancer stemness in TNBC. In summary, autophagy inhibits cancer stem- ness through the miR-181a-regulated mechanism in TNBC. Promoting tumor-suppressive autophagy using curcumin may be a potential method for the treatment of TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glomus tumors are rare neoplasms that characteristically occur in subungual regions, but may also be found in other regions of the body. The clinical diagnosis of this tumor may be difficult if the tumor is located in an extradigital site. Most extradigital glomus tumors form in superficial locations. Herein, we present the case of a 34-year-old woman who experienced chronic knee pain with pinpoint tenderness resulting from a deep-seated periosteal glomus tumor of the distal femur. Extradigital glomus tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis when characteristic clinical features and imaging findings indicative of glomus tumors are present, even if the tumor is located within deep tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary vein stenosis, which is one of the rare complications of radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation, has various symptoms. Here, we report a rare case of massive hemoptysis due to pulmonary vein stenosis following radiofrequency catheter ablation, which was successfully managed with pneumonectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the effects of the administration of Royal Jelly Protein (RJP) on runtime to exhaustion and muscle oxidative enzyme activity, 30 male rats (aged 6 weeks) were divided into control (CON), RJP administration (30% RJP/casein protein) (RP), treadmill exercise (30m/minute, 60 minutes/day) (EX), and RP+EX groups. After an experimental period of 10 weeks, we tested whether RJP administration would improve run-time to exhaustion in trained rats (EX and RP+EX groups) on the day before the dissection. The running time and distance to exhaustion were significantly higher in the RP+EX group than in the EX group (p<0.05). Immediately after exhaustive exercise, the blood lactic acid concentration was significantly lower in the RP+EX group than in the EX group (p<0.05). Citrate synthase activity in the soleus muscles was significantly higher in the RP group than in the CON group (P<0.05) and significantly higher in the RP+EX group than in the EX group (p<0.05). A significant correlation between CS activity in the soleus muscle and running time to exhaustion was observed in the RP+EX group (r=0.88, p<0.01), but not in the EX group. These results may suggest that RJP administration in exercise-trained rats increases the muscle oxidative capacity and promotes improvement in endurance exercise performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which proposed an improved Taylor analogy breakup (TAB) model for more accurate prediction of the deformation and breakup of a spray. Models used to predict spray droplet deformation and breakup; Mathematical formulation for the TAB model; Basis of the deformation and breakup model (DDB); Overview of the breakup criteria used for the TAB and DDB models; Equations of proposed improved TAB model; Verification of the proposed model.