Search

Background. Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly prevalent brain tumor characterized by high rates of morbidity, recurrence, and mortality. While temozolomide (TMZ) is commonly used as a first-line treatment for this cancer, the emergence of TMZ resistance limits its utility. The long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 reportedly drives GBM progression, but whether it can influence therapeutic resistance to TMZ has yet to be established. Methods. HOXA-AS2 expression was analyzed in TMZ-resistant and sensitive GBM tissue samples and cell lines by qPCR. A siRNA-based approach was used to knock down HOXA-AS2 in GBM cells, after which TMZ resistance was tested. Bioinformatics approaches were used to predict miRNA binding targets of HOXA-AS2, after which a series of luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiments with appropriate miRNA inhibitor/mimic constructs were performed to validate these predictions and to clarify the ability of HOXA-AS2 to regulate chemoresistant activity. Results. TMZ-resistant GBM patients and cell lines exhibited increased HOXA-AS2 expression that was correlated with worse overall survival. Knocking down HOXA-AS2 increased the sensitivity of resistant GBM cells to TMZ. miR-302a-3p was identified as a HOXA-AS2 target confirmed through luciferase reporter assays and rescue experiments, and IGF1 was further identified as a confirmed miR-302a-3p target. In addition, HOXA-AS2 knockdown resulted in a corresponding drop in IGF1 expression consistent with indirect regulation mediated by miR-302a-3p. Conclusion. In summary, these results highlight the role of HOXA-AS2 as a driver of TMZ resistance in GBM through its ability to regulate the miR-302a-3p/IGF1 signaling axis, highlighting this pathway as a promising target for the diagnosis, therapeutic sensitization, and/or treatment of affected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To evaluate the incidence and safety of clinical complications associated with percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for the treatment of recurrent lumbar disc herniation (RLDH) by meta-analysis. Methods. PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and Web of Science electronic databases were searched for clinical studies on complications related to the treatment of RLDH with PELD. The search time extended from the databases' inception until May 2021. RevMan5.4 software was used for meta-analysis after two researchers independently scanned the literature, gathered data, and assessed the bias risk of the included studies. Results. A total of 8 clinical studies, including 1 randomized controlled trial and 7 cohort studies including 906 individuals, were included. According to the results of the meta-analysis, the overall complications (OR = 0.18 , 95% CI: 0.04-0.83, p = 0.03) and dural tear rates (OR = 0.11 , 95% CI: 0.01-0.92, p = 0.04) of PELD were lower than those of traditional fenestration nucleus pulposus removal. Moreover, the PELD group had a greater recurrence rate compared to the MIS-TLIF group (OR = 19.71 , 95% CI: 3.68-105.62, p = 0.0005), and the difference was statistically significant. However, compared with MED and MIS-TLIF, there were no significant differences in the incidence of overall complications, dural tear, nerve root injury, and incomplete nucleus pulposus removal (P > 0.05). Conclusion. PELD is an effective and safe method for the treatment of recurrent lumbar disc herniation, with a lower incidence of complications and higher safety profile than traditional fenestration nucleus pulposus removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a sequence decision framework based on the Bayesian search is proposed to solve the problem of using an autonomous system to search for the missing target in an unknown environment. In the task, search cost and search efficiency are two competing requirements because they are closely related to the search task. Especially in the actual search task, the sensor assembled by the searcher is not perfect, so an effective search strategy is needed to guide the search agent to perform the task. Meanwhile, the decision-making method is crucial for the search agent. If the search agent fully trusts the feedback information of the sensor, the search task will end when the target is "detected" for the first time, which means it must take the risk of founding a wrong target. Conversely, if the search agent does not trust the feedback information of the sensor, it will most likely miss the real target, which will waste a lot of search resources and time. Based on the existing work, this paper proposes two search strategies and an improved algorithm. Compared with other search methods, the proposed strategies greatly improve the efficiency of unmanned search. Finally, the numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the search strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxyl end-functionalized poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT-COOH) was grafted chemically with CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) by a phosphine-free method. The particle quality of P3HT-COOH/CdSe nanocomposites was better than that of P3HT/CdSe nanocomposites, which were synthesized using the same method. Nanocrystals with controllable particle size exhibited a wurtzite crystalline structure and showed excellent nanocrystal dispersion in the P3HT-COOH matrix. Photoluminescence (PL) characterization performed on nanocomposites suggested the efficient charge transfer at the P3HT-COOH/CdSe interface. This approach based on the phosphine-free method is not only environmentally friendly but also highly efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: What is known and objective: Mounting evidence suggests that long‐term use of gastric‐acid suppressants (GASs) may be associated with adverse effects. Whether GAS use increases the risk of enteric peritonitis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) is not known. The aim of this meta‐analysis was to evaluate the association between GAS use and enteric peritonitis in PD patients. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases from inception to 23 January 2018 to identify eligible studies. The primary outcome was an association between GAS use and enteric peritonitis in PD patients. Results and discussion: Six studies involving 829 people were included in this meta‐analysis. Pooled data showed that GAS use in PD patients was associated with an increased risk of enteric peritonitis (odds ratio [OR] = 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02‐1.57, I2 = 48%). Subgroup analyses based on GAS type revealed that histamine‐2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) might increase the risk of enteric peritonitis in PD patients (OR = 1.40; 95% CI: 1.01‐1.93; I2 = 8%), but proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) might not (1.13; 0.72‐1.77; 6; 34%). What is new and conclusion: Gastric‐acid suppressants use might be a risk factor for enteric peritonitis in PD patients. In particular, H2RAs increased the risk of enteric peritonitis, but PPIs did not. Therefore, to prevent enteric peritonitis, H2RAs should probably be prescribed with caution for PD patients. Gastric‐acid suppressants (GASs) are commonly prescribed for patients with end‐stage renal disease. However, this meta‐analysis found that use of GASs in peritoneal dialysis patients was associated with an increased risk of enteric peritonitis. Thus, GASs should be prescribed with caution for peritoneal dialysis patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperglycemia is one of the main causes of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) characterized by thickening of the vascular basement membrane. Laminin alpha 1 (LAMA1) is a primary component of laminin, a major protein constituent of the basement membrane. In this study, we investigated the role of LAMA1 in the development of PDR. Retinal choroidal vascular endothelial cells (RF/6A line) were exposed to glucose at different concentrations (5 mM, 15 mM, 25 mM, and 35 mM) and analyzed for cell growth, migration, proliferation, and adhesion. LAMA1 expression was examined 24 and 48 h following glucose treatment using Western blotting, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence. The results showed that the proliferation, migration, and adhesion of RF/6A cells were increased by high glucose, whereas LAMA1 expression was slightly higher at 15 mM but decreased at 25 mM and 35 mM glucose compared to control. Thus, the changes in the biological behavior of high glucose-exposed retinal vascular endothelial cells correspond to variations in LAMA1 expression, indicating a possibility for LAMA1 involvement in PDR development. Our findings suggest that LAMA1 may play a role in PDR and, thus, may serve as a potential target for DR diagnosis and/or treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, based on wavelet reconstruction and fractal dimension, a medical image authentication method is implemented. According to the local and global methods, the regularity of the mutation structure in the carrier information is analyzed through a measurement defined in the medical image transformation domain. To eliminate the redundancy of the reconstructed data, the fractal dimension is used to reduce the attributes of the reconstructed wavelet coefficients. According to the singularity of the fractal dimension of the block information, the key features are extracted and the fractal feature is constructed as the authentication feature of the images. The experimental results show that the authentication scheme has good robustness against attacks, such as JPEG compression, multiplicative noise, salt and pepper noise, Gaussian noise, image rotation, scaling attack, sharpening, clipping attack, median filtering, contrast enhancement, and brightness enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To report baseline information of a prediabetes mellitus (PDM) cohort with the aim of exploring related factors for the progression of PDM and its complications. Methods. This study is an exploratory and cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from a cohort study. Residents aged 18 to 70 years from Houtang Village, Nanyue Town, Yueqing City, Zhejiang Province, China, were invited to participate between October 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019. Blood samples were collected for analysis, and questionnaire interviews were conducted to assess behavioral characteristics. The study participants were divided into DM, PDM, and normal groups for comparisons based on their blood work, and multiple multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to assess the risk factors for DM and PDM. Results. Data from 406 participants were used in the baseline analysis, with a mean age of 51.2 ± 11.0 years and 160 (33.0%) males. The number of participants in the DM, PDM, and normal group was 58 (14.3%), 166 (40.9%), and 182 (44.8%), respectively. The prevalence of DM was 14.3%, and the prevalence of PDM was 40.9%. The regression analysis showed that older age (relative risk ratio (RRR) = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01–1.11, P = 0.018), higher systolic blood pressure (RRR = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.004–1.08, P = 0.030), higher BMI (RRR = 1.20; 95% CI, 1.06–3.06, P = 0.004), higher TG (RRR = 1.80; 95% CI, 1.06–3.06, P = 0.029), and higher WBC count (RRR = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07–1.64, P = 0.010) were significantly associated with a higher risk of DM. Meanwhile, higher systolic blood pressure (RRR = 1.03; 95% CI, 1.004–1.06, P = 0.025) was the only factor significantly associated with a higher risk of PDM. Conclusion. The prevalence of DM and PDM is relatively high in this wealthy East China village population. Many modifiable risk factors exist for DM and PDM, which will be closely monitored during our longitudinal observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this article, a multi‐stage optimal allocation method for battery energy storage system (BESS) in distribution networks with photovoltaic (PV) system is proposed, which is to obtain its optimal installation location, capacity, power, and investment time. This method takes the time value of money, the PV growth rate, and the load increase during the investment period into consideration. Firstly, genetic algorithm and gravity search algorithm are combined to solve a single‐stage static optimal allocation problem and the BESS installation location and parameters in target year are obtained. Then, the obtained parameters are regarded as constraints and a heuristic multi‐path forward dynamic programming method is used to determine the specific investment time of each equipment. Finally, a case study is used to verify the effectiveness and the economy of the proposed method. The research provides a theoretical basis for the optimal allocation of BESS in distribution networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]