Search

Multi-output rotation symmetric Boolean functions with good properties play an important role in the design of cryptographic systems. Based on the action of cyclic group on the n-dimensional vector space over binary field, the sufficient conditions for the existence of multi-output k-rotation symmetric balanced and 1-resilient Boolean functions are studied by using the method of orbital partition and constructing orthogonal tables respectively. When n/k = p' (p is prime,r ∈ Z+),the range of values given for m when a balanced or 1-resilient multi-output rotational symmetric Boolean function exists. The concrete construction methods are provided and verified by Matlab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The puncturing technique is sometimes efficient in constructing projective codes from original codes which are not projective. In this paper, several families of projective linear codes punctured from reducible cyclic codes, special linear codes or irreducible cyclic codes are investigated. The parameters and weight enumerators of the punctured codes and their duals are explicitly determined. Some of the codes are optimal and some of the codes are self-orthogonal which can be used to construct quantum codes. Several infinite families of combinatorial $ 2 $-designs and $ 3 $-designs including some families of Steiner systems are constructed from the punctured codes and their duals. Besides, infinite families of strongly regular graphs are also derived from some families of two-weight projective codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a normal karyotype is highly heterogonous, and the current risk stratification is still insufficient to differentiate patients from high-risk to standard-risk. Changes in some genetic profiles may contribute to the poor prognosis of AML. Although the prognostic value of G protein subunit alpha 15 (GNA15) in AML has been reported based on the GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) database, the prognostic significance of GNA15 has not been verified in clinical samples. The biological functions of GNA15 in AML development remain open to investigation. This study explored the clinical significance, biological effects and molecular mechanism of GNA15 in AML. Methods: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the mRNA expression level of GNA15 in blasts of bone marrow specimens from 154 newly diagnosed adult AML patients and 26 healthy volunteers. AML cell lines, Kasumi-1 and SKNO-1, were used for lentiviral transfection. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) and colony formation assays were used to determine cell proliferation. Cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. The relevant signaling pathways were evaluated by Western blot. The Log-Rank test and Kaplan-Meier were used to evaluate survival rate, and the Cox regression model was used to analyze multivariate analysis. Xenograft tumor mouse model was used for in vivo experiments. Results: The expression of GNA15 in adult AML was significantly higher than that in healthy individuals. Subjects with high GNA15 expression showed lower overall survival and relapse-free survival in adult AML with normal karyotype. High GNA15 expression was independently correlated with a worse prognosis in multivariate analysis. Knockdown of GNA15 inhibited cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, and induced cell apoptosis in AML cells. GNA15 -knockdown induced down-regulation of p-P38 MAPK and its downstream p-MAPKAPK2 and p-CREB. Rescue assays confirmed that P38 MAPK signaling pathway was involved in the inhibition of proliferation mediated by GNA15 knockdown. Conclusions: In summary, GNA15 was highly expressed in adult AML, and high GNA15 expression was independently correlated with a worse prognosis in adult AML with normal karyotype. Knockdown of GNA15 inhibited the proliferation of AML regulated by the P38 MAPK signaling pathway. Therefore, GNA15 may serve as a potential prognostic marker and a therapeutic target for AML in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The prognostic role of WT1 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is still controversial. No study has focused on the prognostic role of WT1 expression in adult B-ALL patients receiving chemotherapy only. Methods: Using TaqMan-based real time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR), we detected the WT1 transcript levels of 162 de-novo adult B-ALL patients at the time of diagnosis and analysed their clinical features. Results: WT1 overexpression was defined as a transcript level higher than 0.50%, which is the upper limit in normal bone marrow. WT1 overexpression was identified in 66.0% of the patients and was an independent positive prognostic factor for CIR, RFS and OS in patients who received chemotherapy only (CIR: HR = 0.236 [95% confidence interval 0.094–0.592]; P = 0.002; RFS: HR = 0.223 [0.092–0.543]; P = 0.001; OS: HR = 0.409 [0.214–0.783]; P = 0.007) and in patients who did not have BCR-ABL fusion or KMT2A rearrangements (CIR: HR = 0.431 [0.201–0.921]; P = 0.030; RFS: HR = 0.449 [0.224–0.899]; P = 0.024; OS: HR = 0.521 [0.278–0.977]; P = 0.042). However, WT1 overexpression had no prognostic value in patients who received allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Furthermore, allo-HSCT could improve the prognosis of patients with low WT1 expression. Conclusion: Therefore, testing for WT1 expression at the time of diagnosis may predict outcomes in adult B-ALL patients who receive only chemotherapy and who do not have the BCR-ABL fusion gene or KMT2A rearrangements. Allo-HSCT may improve the prognosis of patients with low WT1 transcript levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The binary Hamming codes with parameters $[{2^{m}-1, 2^{m}-1-m, 3}]$ are perfect. Their extended codes have parameters $[{2^{m}, 2^{m}-1-m, 4}]$ and are distance-optimal. The first objective of this paper is to construct a class of binary linear codes with parameters $[{2^{m+s}+2^{s}-2^{m},2^{m+s}+2^{s}-2^{m}-2m-2,4}]$ , which have better information rates than the class of extended binary Hamming codes, and are also distance-optimal. The second objective is to construct a class of distance-optimal binary codes with parameters $[{2^{m}+2, 2^{m}-2m, 6}]$. Both classes of binary linear codes have new parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subset sum problem is an important theoretical problem with many applications, such as in coding theory, cryptography, graph theory and other fields. One of the many aspects of this problem is to answer the solvability of the k -subset sum problem. It has been proven to be NP-hard in general. However, if the evaluation set has some special algebraic structure, it is possible to obtain some good conclusions. Zhu, Wan and Keti proposed partial results of this problem over two special kinds of evaluation sets. We generalize their conclusions in this paper, and propose asymptotical results of the solvability of the k -subset sum problem by using estimates of additive character sums over the evaluation set, together with the Brun sieve and the new sieve proposed by Li and Wan. We also apply the former two examples as application of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Cervical carcinoma continues to be one of the most dangerous cancer types, and more effective therapies are urgently needed for cervical carcinoma treatment. Mitochondria-associated Mitofusin 2 has influence on the progression of many cancers. In the current study, we aimed to focus on the cell apoptotic effects of Mfn2 on cervical carcinoma HeLa cells in vitro and to try to explore its underlying mechanisms. Moreover, we investigated the anticancer potential of Mfn2 in a cervical carcinoma mouse model. Methods: Adenovirus-Mfn2 (Adv-Mfn2) was used to deliver mfn2 into HeLa cells and tumour tissues in a nude mouse model. CCK-8, TUNEL assay, Western blot and immunohistochemical staining were performed to detect the effects of Mfn2. The mRNA level of Mfn2 was determined by quantitative realtime PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. The effect of Mfn2 on cell apoptosis was investigated by flow cytometry. Flow cytometry was used to assess the change of the mitochondrial membrane potential of the cells treated with JC-1 assay. Mfn2, Bax, Bcl-2, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-9 protein levels were analysed by Western blot. Results: Data from CCK-8 and flow cytometry showed that Mfn2 could inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner in HeLa cells. JC-1 test results revealed that the membrane potential of the mitochondrial decreased in a dose-dependent manner in HeLa cells after Adv-Mfn2 treatment. The data from Western blot confirmed that higher cytosolic amounts of cytochrome c with increasing doses of Adv-Mfn2 signified the onset of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Levels of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 increased in HeLa cells with Adv-Mfn2 treatment. We also found significant increases in the Bax level and a decreased Bcl-2 level with Adv-Mfn2 treatment. We further confirmed that Mfn2 could significantly inhibit the growth of the cervical tumour in the xenografted cervical carcinoma mouse model. After a 9-day-treatment, the tumours of the Adv-mfn2 group were inhibited and induced into apoptosis. The results demonstrated that the overexpression of Mfn2 could not only increase the levels of Bax and Bid in cervical tumour cells but also decrease the phosphorylation of Bad and the expression of Bcl-2. Conclusion: These studies suggested that the overexpression of Mfn2 could trigger cervical tumour apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, which was related to the mitochondrial pathway, and may provide a new treatment target for cervical carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we derive an explicit combinatorial formula for the number of k -subset sums of quadratic residues over finite fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Avalanche Characteristics (including the sum-of-squares indicator and the absolute indicator) measure the overall avalanche characteristics of a cryptographic Boolean function. Son et al. (1998) gave the lower bound on the sum-of-squares indicator for a balanced Boolean function. In this paper, we give a sufficient and necessary condition on a balanced Boolean function reaching the lower bound on the sum-of-squares indicator. We also analyze whether these balanced Boolean functions exist, and if they reach the lower bounds on the sum-of-squares indicator or not. Our result implies that there does not exist a balanced Boolean function with n-variable for odd n(n ≥ 5). We conclude that there does not exist a m(m ≥ 1)-resilient function reaching the lower bound on the sum-of-squares indicator with n-variable for n ≥ 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To conduct an overview of meta-analyses evaluating the impact of exercise interventions on improving health outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD)., Design: An umbrella review of systematic review and meta-analyses of intervention trials was performed., Data Sources: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception to 9 March 2021 for relevant articles., Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies: Eligible meta-analyses compared the effects of usual care with and without exercise in patients with CKD. Health outcomes included those related to cardiovascular risk factors, physical fitness, dialysis-related symptoms, dialysis adequacy and health-related quality of life. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that included fewer than 3 RCTs or fewer than 100 participants were excluded from the analysis., Results: A total of 31 eligible systematic reviews and meta-analyses were included that assessed 120 outcomes. For physical fitness, there was a moderate effect size for cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and body composition and small effect size for muscle endurance. The effect sizes for cardiovascular risk factors, dialysis-related symptoms and health-related quality of life outcomes were small. According to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework, most outcomes were low or very low quality., Conclusion: Exercise appears to be a safe way to affect concomitant cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure, improve physical fitness and health-related quality of life and reduce dialysis-related symptoms in patients with CKD., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42020223591., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) influenced the result of surgical treatment, which was known as the second most prevalent hospital-based infection. But, the factors of SSI are not uniform. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors of SSI in patients with colorectal cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis of epidemiological research to provide a scientific basis for the prevention of SSI., Methods: The PubMed, Medline, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang databases were independently searched by 2 researchers to identify all relevant studies. Studies were selected if they met the selection criteria, which was defined according to the PICOS principles. The quality of the evidence was assessed using Egger's P value, study heterogeneity, and sample size. Studies were categorized into 3 groups as follows: low quality (Class 4), moderate quality (Class 2/3), and high quality (Class 1). The meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software., Results: A total of 17 studies involving 61,611 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results identified 7 patient-related risk factors of SSI, including male gender, obesity, diabetes mellitus, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, cigarette smoking, tumor location, and serum albumin level, and 5 treatment-related risk factors, including laparoscopic surgery, operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion, and abdominal surgical history. Age was not directly related to SSI in colorectal cancer., Conclusions: It is possible that patients can be treated effectively by identifying these factors of SSI., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tcr-22-627/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2022 Translational Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing global health challenge with an increasing incidence rate. Exercise-based renal rehabilitation is an evidence-based, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive intervention designed to improve the physical and psychological condition of patients with CKD. The knowledge structure, research hotspots, and development trends in exercise-based renal rehabilitation have not been systematically described. The aim of this study was to provide a bibliometric perspective of the progress in this field. Publications about exercise-based renal rehabilitation were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, using the terms "exercise," "physical activity," and "chronic kidney disease." Annual publications, subject categories, countries, authors, references, and keywords in this field were visually analyzed using the Citespace, VOSview, and Excel software. A total of 4,610 publications were analyzed, with a steady increase in publications in the field. Overall, the United States is the major contributor to the study of exercise-based renal rehabilitation. Johansen KL and Painter P are the key researchers in this field. Keyword analysis shows that research hotspots in this field include exercise/physical activity for different stages of CKD, exercise-based renal rehabilitation for frailty, and physical activity management for CKD. These findings will make understanding exercise-based renal rehabilitation research better and inform about future research ideas., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Ye, Bai, Wang and Wang.)

Available data indicated that physical activity was related to improved outcomes in hemodialysis patients. Multiple observational studies involving different cohorts have reported that increased physical activity level was associated with decreased mortality among hemodialysis patients. Therefore, promoting physical activity has become an increasingly critical and promising approach to improving cardiovascular health and clinical outcomes in hemodialysis patients. This review summarizes the published articles regarding physical activity and hemodialysis patients, focusing on mortality and strategy to promote physical activity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Wang, Wang and Zhang.)