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AbstractTo study the changes of motor and cognitive function of pituitary tumor rats after the operation. Methods: The experiment was divided into three groups: control group, model group and operation group (30 animals for each group). Female Fischer344 rats were selected. Model group rats were subcutaneously embedded with 10 mg estrogen sustained-release pump to induce a pituitary tumor model, and control group rats were subcutaneously embedded with a normal saline sustained-release pump as control. The operation group was successfully treated by microsurgery after the model was established. The quantitative expressions of PTTG, FGF-2 and VEGF were detected by Western blot. Morris test was used to detect the spatial learning and memory ability of rats. Western blot results showed that compared with the model group, the expression of the operation group was decreased, but still higher than that of the control group (p

Being an important semiconductor material for high power applications, silicon carbide (SiC) faces the problems while used as a gate oxygen layer in traditional Si MOS devices. In view of this, an innovative approach was adopted in the present work to replace the conventional SiO _2 with a high-k material (ZrO _2 ) as the gate oxygen layer to investigate its effect on the electrical characteristics of the devices. In particular ZrO _2 films were deposited on Si and SiC substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD), and Al was used as the electrode. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) microregion scan revealed a highly flat surface with R _q < 1 nm after the ALD growth of ZrO _2 layer. The sample surface analysis via x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggested the presence of a small amount of ZrO _x components. According to the electron energy loss spectrum (EELS), the band gap width (E _g ) of this ALD ZrO _2 dielectric was 5.45 eV, which met the requirements for high-quality 4H-SiC-related MOS devices. The electrical properties of the samples were then studied, and the maximum breakdown voltage of the Al/ZrO _2 /SiC/Al MOS structure was obtained to be 23 V, i.e., nearly twice that of the Si substrate. As for the oxide layer, the interface defect density (D _it ) near the conduction band of the Al/ZrO _2 /SiC/Al MOS structure was only 10 ^12 eV ^−1 cm ^−2 orders of magnitude. The N _eff value (the movable charge) of the structure was also controlled at 10 ^12 cm ^−2 . Therefore, the overall performance of the ZrO _2 /SiC structure in terms of electrical properties exceeded that of the ZrO _2 /Si structure and previously reported counterparts. In this respect, the ZrO _2 /SiC MOS capacitor structure has great research potential.

Background: Placebo was defined as any therapy that is used for its nonspecific psychological and physiologic effect but has no specific pharmacologic impact on the condition being treated. Besides medication therapies, studies have found that the optimal dietary approach as well as physical activity and education are useful to control hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the placebo effects of antidiabetic therapies in Asian and Caucasian T2DM patients and make a comparison between the two ethnicities. Methods: A search using the MEDLINE database, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database was performed, from when recording began until December 2016. The main concepts searched in English were sulfonylurea (SU); alpha glucosidase inhibitors (AGI); metformin (MET); thiazolidinediones (TZD); dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i); sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i); glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA); type 2 diabetes (T2DM); placebo controlled; and randomized controlled trials. Using the Cochrane instrument, we evaluated the adequacy of randomization, allocation concealment procedures, and blinding. Results: This study included 63 studies with a total of 7096 Asian patients involved and 262 studies with a total of 27,477 Caucasian patients involved. In Caucasian population, the use of placebo led to significant reductions of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), −0.683% (P = 0.008) in SU monotherapy treatment, −0.193% (P = 0.001) in DPP-4i treatment, and −0.230% (P < 0.001) in SGLT2i treatment, respectively. In Asian population, the use of placebo resulted in significant decreases of HbA1c, −0.162% (P = 0.012) in DPP-4i treatment and −0.269% (P = 0.028) in GLP-1RA add-on therapy, respectively. The placebo also significantly reduced body weight. In Caucasian population, placebo use resulted in 0.833 kg (P = 0.006) weight loss by SU treatment and 0.953 kg (P = 0.006) weight loss by GLP-1RA treatment. In Asian population, the placebo led to a weight change of 0.612 kg (P < 0.001) by GLP-1RA analog treatment. The changes of HbA1c and weight due to the placebo effect in other treatments were not significant in both Asian and Caucasian population. Comparisons of the placebo effect on HbA1c change and weight change in each treatment group indicated that no significant difference was found between Asian and Caucasian population. Conclusions: The overall differences of the placebo effect on HbA1c changes as well as on body weight changes were not significant between Asian and Caucasian T2DM patients. The placebo effect on HbA1c changes and weight changes was not associated with baseline age, gender, baseline body mass index, baseline HbA1c, duration of diabetes, or study duration.

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis has been implicated in glucose homeostasis. It is plausible to hypothesize that the IGF axis is involved in the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). In a systematic review of the evidence on IGF axis biomarkers in relation to GDM, we searched the PubMed and EMBASE for publications up to May 31, 2018, on the associations of circulating IGF axis biomarkers with GDM. Eligible studies must meet the pre-specified quality assessment criteria. Meta-analyses were conducted where there were at least three studies on the same biomarker at the same gestational age window—early (

Objective To investigate whether Rac1 inhibitor has a synergistic effect on temozolomide (TMZ) in inhibiting the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of glioma cells. Methods Human glioma cell lines U87 and U251 were cultured by Rac1 inhibitor, TMZ or Rac1 inhibitor combined with TMZ. They were divided into 4 groups: control group, Rac1 inhibitor group, TMZ group and Rac1 inhibitor + TMZ group. The proliferation, migration and invasiveness of glioma cells were detected by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), migration assay and Transwell assay. Results After cultured by Rac1 inhibitor, TMZ or Rac1 inhibitor + TMZ, the cell proliferation of U87 and U251 were inhibited (P < 0.05, for all). The inhibiting effect of TMZ was stronger than Rac1 inhibitor (P < 0.05, for all), while Rac1 inhibitor + TMZ was much stronger (P < 0.05, for all). U87 and U251 migration [cells/low power field (LPF)] in Rac1 inhibitor group (39.00 ± 9.53, 37.00 ± 5.56), TMZ group (42.00 ± 8.54, 36.00 ± 9.00) and Rac1 inhibitor + TMZ group (18.67 ± 10.54, 14.33 ± 5.00) was lower than that in control group (78.00 ± 11.53, 75.00 ± 4.00), and the differences were significant (U87: P = 0.001, 0.001, 0.000; U251: P = 0.000, for all). U87 and U251 cell invasiveness (cells/LPF) in Rac1 inhibitor group (30.33 ± 3.51, 40.67 ± 4.04), TMZ group (24.00 ± 2.64, 37.33 ± 4.51) and Rac1 inhibtor + TMZ group (11.00 ± 2.00, 15.33 ± 2.52) was lower than that in control group (64.33 ± 4.04, 77.33 ± 3.06), and the differences were significant (U87: P = 0.000, for all; U251: P = 0.000, for all). In paired comparison among different groups, the migration (U87: P = 0.021, 0.011; U251: P = 0.002, 0.003) and invasiveness (U87: P = 0.000, 0.001; U251: P = 0.000, 0.000) of cells in Rac1 inhibitor + TMZ group were significantly decreased than those in other groups. Conclusions Both Rac1 inhibitor and temozolomide can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasiveness of glioma cells, while Rac1 inhibitor has a significantly synergistic effect on temozolomide. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2016.08.009

Purpose: Various genetic variants have been reported to be linked to an increased risk of meningioma. However, no confirmed conclusion has been obtained. The purpose of the study was to investigate potential meningioma-associated gene polymorphisms, based on published evidence. Materials and methods: An updated meta-analysis was performed in September 2016. After electronic database searching and study screening, we selected eligible case-control studies and extracted data for meta-analysis, using Mantel-Haenszel statistics. P-values, pooled odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results: We finally selected eight genes with ten polymorphisms: MLLT10 rs12770228, CASP8 rs1045485, XRCC1 rs1799782, rs25487, MTHFR rs1801133, rs1801131, MTRR rs1801394, MTR rs1805087, GSTM1 null/present, and GSTT1 null/present. Results of meta-analyses showed that there was increased meningioma risk in case groups under all models of MLLT10 rs12770228 (all OR >1, P<0.001), compared with control groups. Similar results were observed under the allele, homozygote, dominant, and recessive models of MTRR rs1801394 (all OR >1, P<0.05), and the heterozygote and dominant models of MTHFR rs1801131 in the Caucasian population (all OR >1, P<0.05). However, no significantly increased meningioma risks were observed for CASP8 rs1045485, XRCC1 rs25487, rs1799782, MTHFR rs1801133, MTR rs1805087, or GSTM1/GSTT1 null mutations. Conclusion: Our updated meta-analysis provided statistical evidence for the role of MLLT10 rs12770228, MTRR rs1801394, and MTHFR rs1801131 in increased susceptibility to meningioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]