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Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a fatal tumor with grave prognosis. Pyroptosis, a programmed cell death, is involved in tumorigenesis. However, a few studies have elucidated the functions of pyroptosis in PDAC. Methods: The mRNA expression profiles were downloaded from the TCGA and GEO databases. Univariate and LASSO Cox regression analyses were used to screen out differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and construct the pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) risk model. The efficiency of model was examined by Kaplan–Meier curve, ROC curve, and nomogram. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were utilized to assess whether the risk model could be used as an independent prognostic factor. The biological function was analyzed by GO, KEGG, and GSEA enrichment analysis. qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining detected gene expression. Results: Totally 9 PRGs with differential expression were identified between normal and PDAC tissues. Then, according to PRGs, we filtered out three key DEGs and constructed the prognostic risk model. Kaplan–Meier curve, ROC curve, and nomogram indicated that the prognostic risk model had high survival prediction efficiency. Meanwhile, the risk model had also shown to be an independent prognostic factor. Further functional enrichment analysis showed that cell adhesion, PI3K–AKT signaling pathway, and dysregulated immune status may be associated with PDAC development. External validation of the model was carried out in the GEO cohort, and the results were similar to that in the TCGA cohort. Finally, the expression of three genes was verified by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Conclusion: The prognostic risk model established in this study can give a good prediction of the prognosis of PDAC patients, which might provide insights into clinical treatments and prognostic prediction of PDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermo-physiological human simulator has been used in many regions for estimating thermal behavior of the locals. The applicability of the human simulator to populations from different regions is, however, questioned due to its lack of consideration for the ethnic diversities in thermoregulation. This study checked the potential of improving the applicability of the Newton human simulator, one of the most popular simulators, by correcting its local set point skin temperatures according to the target population (Chinese as an example). First, new set point skin temperatures were obtained by conducting tests with 101 Chinese under a thermal neutral condition. Then, simulator tests using the original and new set point skin temperatures were conducted separately for evaluating thermal responses of the Chinese under non-neutral conditions. The evaluated skin and core temperatures by the simulators were compared with those measured from the real human tests. It demonstrated that the evaluated skin temperatures are positively related with the set point skin temperatures of the simulator. Adjusting set point skin temperatures according to the Chinese improved the prediction performance of the local skin temperatures, with the root-mean-square-deviation being reduced for over 50% of the body segments. The proposed idea of correcting local set point skin temperatures would contribute to evaluating the thermal interaction between human body and its surroundings with a higher accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag nanoparticles embedded in soda-lime silicate glass were fabricated by ion-exchange and subsequently annealing method. Z-scan technique, femtosecond time-resolved optical Kerr effect (OKE) technique and femtosecond pump-probe experiment were used to investigate the effects of laser wavelength and laser pulse duration as well as annealing temperature on the third-order optical nonlinearity and ultrafast dynamics of the composites. It was found that the third-order susceptibility of Ag nanoparticles composite glass measured by 400 nm pulse source is larger than that measured by 800 nm pulse source due to an enhancement effect of local field near surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles in silicate glass. The third-order optical nonlinearity measured by ns laser source is about two orders of magnitude larger than that measured from fs pulse. The annealing temperature has an important effect on the third-order optical nonlinearity and ultrafast dynamics of the composites. Third-order nonlinear susceptibility up to 10-10 esu and fast relaxation process up to 0.2 ps have been obtained in Ag nanoparticles doped glass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]