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Objectives: Cancer cells with 'stemness' are generally resistant to chemoradiotherapy. This study aims to compare the differences in radiation sensitivity of A549 and CD44+A549 stem-like cells to X-rays and carbon ion radiation (C-ions), and to find a target that can kill cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: The study used two cell lines (A549 and CD44+A549). The tumorigenicity of cells was tested with animal experiments. The cells were irradiated with X-rays and C-ions. Cell viability was detected using the CCK-8 and EdU assay. A liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC–MS) helped detect metabolic differences. Protein and mRNA expression were detected using a Western blot, reverse transcription-quantitative (RT-qPCR), and PCR array. The autophagic activity was monitored with a CYTO-ID® Autophagy Detection Kit 2.0. Immunofluorescence and co-immunoprecipitation helped to observe the localization and interaction relationships. Results: First, we verified the radio-resistance of CD44+A549 stem-like cells. LC-MS indicated the difference in autophagy between the two cells, followed by establishing a correlation between the radio-resistance and autophagy. Subsequently, the PCR array proved that TGM2 is significantly upregulated in CD44+A549 stem-like cells. Moreover, the TGM2 knockdown by small interfering RNA could decrease the radio-resistance of CD44+A549 cells. Bioinformatic analyses and experiments showed that TGM2 is correlated with the expression of CD44 and LC3B. Additionally, TGM2 could directly interact with LC3B. Conclusions: We established the CD44-TGM2-LC3 axis: CD44 mediates radio-resistance of CD44+A549 stem-like cells through TGM2 regulation of autophagy. Our study may provide new biomarkers and strategies to alleviate the radio-resistance of CSCs in NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a variant of recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (RILN), the nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (NRILN) is closely related to the occurrence of abnormal subclavian artery (ASA). The nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve has been found in patients without arterial abnormalities, which is seen in the coexistence of NRILN and RILN, but it is easily confused with sympathetic-inferior laryngeal anastomosis branch (SILAB). We encountered 2 right NRILN patients without ASA during thyroid surgery. This article summarizes the characteristics of these cases and proposes methods to distinguish the coexistence of NRILN and RILN from SILAB. So far, 11 articles have reported 16 cases of NRILN without arterial abnormalities. In patients without artery abnormality, the vagus nerve could send out a descending branch NRILN at the bifurcation of the carotid artery and enter the larynx after anastomosis with RILN. Adequate dissection of the carotid sheath may avoid confusion with SILAB, and neural monitoring is also expected to provide a reference for the identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central part of the Zhangjiakou area is occupied by the Yanshan orogenic basin. A large number of piedmont faults developed over time, controlling the exposure of geothermal anomalies. The fluid chemistry characteristics and their influence on the heat generation mechanism of the medium- and low-temperature convective geothermal field in the area are not fully understood. In this study, the geothermal fluid was sampled and tested, and the hydrogeological background conditions were analyzed. The results show that the sulfate in geothermal fluid originates from the dissolution of gypsum or H2S oxidation in deep magma. The geothermal fluid in the faulted basin flows upward after deep circulation and interacts with shallow groundwater. The main source of geothermal fluid is atmospheric precipitation. The temperature of the hot reservoir is between 82 °C and 121 °C, and the depth of geothermal water circulation is more than 3200 m. It can be seen that the geothermal resources in this area are formed by the long-term contact of residual magma, geothermal heating and mechanical heating of neotectonic movement after atmospheric precipitation recharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deformable object manipulation (DOM) is an emerging research problem in robotics. The ability to manipulate deformable objects endows robots with higher autonomy and promises new applications in the industrial, services, and health-care sectors. However, compared to rigid object manipulation, the manipulation of deformable objects is considerably more complex and is still an open research problem. Addressing DOM challenges demands breakthroughs in almost all aspects of robotics: hardware design, sensing, (deformation) modeling, planning, and control. In this article, we review recent advances and highlight the main challenges when considering deformation in each subfield. A particular focus of our article lies in the discussions of these challenges and proposing future directions of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human skin can sense subtle changes of both normal and shear forces (i.e., self-decoupled) and perceive stimuli with finer resolution than the average spacing between mechanoreceptors (i.e., super-resolved). By contrast, existing tactile sensors for robotic applications are inferior, lacking accurate force decoupling and proper spatial resolution at the same time. Here, we present a soft tactile sensor with self-decoupling and super-resolution abilities by designing a sinusoidally magnetized flexible film (with the thickness ~0.5 millimeters), whose deformation can be detected by a Hall sensor according to the change of magnetic flux densities under external forces. The sensor can accurately measure the normal force and the shear force (demonstrated in one dimension) with a single unit and achieve a 60-fold super-resolved accuracy enhanced by deep learning. By mounting our sensor at the fingertip of a robotic gripper, we show that robots can accomplish challenging tasks such as stably grasping fragile objects under external disturbance and threading a needle via teleoperation. This research provides new insight into tactile sensor design and could be beneficial to various applications in robotics field, such as adaptive grasping, dexterous manipulation, and human-robot interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the prevalence of obesity and cancer have been rising. Since this poses a serious threat to human health, the relationship between the two has attracted much attention. This study examined whether fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) genes are linked, taking into account a Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) that revealed multiple single nucleotide polymorphism sites (SNPs) of the FTO gene, indicating an association between obesity and cancer in different populations. FTO proteins have been proved to participate in adipogenesis and tumorigenesis with post-transcriptional regulation of downstream molecular expression or through the target of the mammalian target protein rapamycin (mTOR). FTO inhibitors have also been found to share anti-obesity and anti-cancer effects in vivo. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the correlation between obesity and cancer by measuring FTO gene polymorphism, as well as the molecular mechanism involved in these diseases, emphasizing FTO as the common genetic basis of obesity and cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms are widely involved in the transformation process of physical and chemical properties in the geological and hydrogeological environment. Active participation of microorganisms is important features of the biogeochemical reactions during groundwater exploiting along the riverbank filtration. Hydrodynamic condition has a direct or indirect difference control of the biological effectiveness, chemical activity and mobility of the pollution components, which can affect biogeochemical process. In different biogeochemistry, there will be some exclusive functional bacteria, which is of great significance to understand the biogeochemical mechanism of river water infiltration. This study confirms that there are two main different flow paths from river to the center of the depression cone due to different hydrodynamic conditions and spatial characteristics and scaling effects of redox zonation during riverbank filtration. In different flow paths, the microbial abundance shows obvious spatial heterogeneity. The microbial abundance and species similarity degree of the riverbed and deep flow path sediments has significant correlation. There is a significant correlation between the dominant bacteria and the environmental factors in different hydrodynamic conditions on a spatial scale. This study is the first to reveal the response of microbial community structure to water chemical evolution during riparian filtration. Due to significant positive correlation between the Fe/Mn and As, it brings the potential danger for drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater exploitation along a river bank can not only induce the river water infiltrating but also affect the biogeochemical reactions in the riverbank infiltration zone. Due to the differences in water chemistry in river water and groundwater, there are obvious physical, chemical and biological gradients in the riverbank infiltration zone, resulting in a series of strong and complex biogeochemical processes. In this study, Huangjia groundwater source area along the Liao River is selected as the case study area. To explore the REDOX environment in the infiltration zone induced by groundwater exploitation, and to deduce the major geochemical reactions of release arsenic and iron in aquifer to groundwater under different REDOX environment during bank infiltration. A number of highlighted conclusions has been obtained through this study: arsenic and iron in the sediments are mainly released to groundwater through desorption and reductive dissolution of iron minerals. The content of exchangeable and iron-manganese oxides bound state changes significantly. Co-evolution characteristics of As and Fe release processes are strongly correlated with the variation of REDOX environment, the oxidation of organic matter bound iron minerals under weak oxidizing condition also played an important role in promoting the release of As and Fe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the important elements of controlling the redox system within the hyporheic and hypolentic zone, sulfur is involved in a series of complex biogeochemical processes such as carbon cycle, water acidification, formation of iron and manganese minerals, redox processes of trace metal elements and a series of important ecological processes. Previous studies on biogeochemistry of the hyporheic and hypolentic zones mostly concentrated on nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus, heavy metals and other pollutants. Systematic study of biogeochemical behavior of sulfur and its main controlling factors within the lake hypolentic zone is very urgent and important. In this paper, a typical desert plateau lake, Dakebo Lake in northwestern China, was taken for example within which redox zonation and biogeochemical characteristics of sulfur affected by hydrodynamic conditions were studied based on not only traditional hydrochemical analysis, but also environmental isotope evidence. In the lake hypolentic zone of the study area, due to the different hydrodynamic conditions, vertical profile of sulfur species and environmental parameters differ at the two sites of the lake (western side and center). Reduction of sulfate, deposition and oxidation of sulfide, dissolution and precipitation of sulfur-bearing minerals occurred are responded well to Eh, dissolved oxygen, pH, organic carbon and microorganism according to which the lake hypolentic zone can be divided into reduced zone containing H2S, reduced zone containing no H2S, transition zone and oxidized zone. The results of this study provide valuable insights for understanding sulfur conversion processes and sulfur biogeochemical zonation within a lake hypolentic zone in an extreme plateau arid environment and for protecting the lake-wetland ecosystem in arid and semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The groundwater flow path plays an important role in maintaining hydrological and ecological quality and security, which are important in the comprehensive management and use of both groundwater and surface water. In this study, an integrated multi-tracer-constrained framework was used to determine the groundwater flow path. The results show that there are shallow and deep flow paths in riverbank filtration, controlled by the different permeabilities of riverbed sediments and aquifers at different depths. The contribution of river water to shallow groundwater is less than that to deep groundwater because of the low permeability of the riverbed sediment in the dense muddy layer in the shallow slope of the river valley. This contribution decreases with increasing distance from the Liao River. The shallow groundwater quality is better than the deep groundwater quality because of its longer residence time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Intensive groundwater extraction causes many environmental problems globally. Reducing groundwater extraction is a primary method for alleviating these problems. However, this reduction may create new pollution issues because of an increase in groundwater vulnerability. A case study was done using the DRAOTIC evaluation method (an improved DRASTIC method for organic pollutant in aquifer vulnerability; soil (S factor) has been updated by organic matter (O factor) in the method) for the Hun River Basin, northeastern China, where groundwater intensive extraction had caused serious environmental and hydrogeological problems. The assessment results show that moderate vulnerability level is the main vulnerability level in the Hun River Basin; high vulnerability level and low vulnerability level categories occupy a smaller area; while very high and very low vulnerability categories occupy the smallest area. By combining the predicted groundwater level distribution and DRAOTIC model, the responses of groundwater vulnerability to different groundwater extraction reductions could be studied. The results show that groundwater vulnerability levels increased as groundwater extraction was reduced; this is because the rising groundwater levels make it easier for pollution coming from the surface to reach the aquifer. The more the reduction in groundwater extraction, the greater the increase in the area with higher vulnerability levels, and the greater the increase in pollution risk. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the development of industrialization and urbanization, heavy metals contamination has become a major environmental problem. Numerous investigations have revealed an association between heavy metal exposure and the incidence and mortality of gastric cancer. The mechanisms of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and arsenic) contamination leading to gastric cancer are concluded in this review. There are four main potential mechanisms: (1) Heavy metals disrupt the gastric mucosal barrier by decreasing mucosal thickness, mucus content, and basal acid output, thereby affecting the function of E-cadherin and inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage. (2) Heavy metals directly or indirectly induce ROS generation and cause gastric mucosal and DNA lesions, which subsequently alter gene regulation, signal transduction, and cell growth, ultimately leading to carcinogenesis. Exposure to heavy metals also enhances gastric cancer cell invasion and metastasis. (3) Heavy metals inhibit DNA damage repair or cause inefficient lesion repair. (4) Heavy metals may induce other gene abnormalities. In addition, heavy metals can induce the expression of proinflammatory chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) and microRNAs, which promotes tumorigenesis. The present review is an effort to underline the human health problem caused by heavy metal with recent development in order to garner a broader perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DRASTIC is one of the most widely used evaluation models for groundwater vulnerability assessments, and geographic information system technology facilitates its broad application. In this study, DRAOTIC was used to assess groundwater organic pollution vulnerability in the Hun River alluvial plain, Northeastern China. Results demonstrate that DRAOTIC can accurately reflect groundwater organic pollution characteristics in the Hun River alluvial fan, and principal component analysis may be used for objective weight determination to avoid limitations of the subjective method. Comparative analysis between monitoring and assessment results of regional groundwater organic pollution shows that their spatial distributions matched. An area of very high vulnerability was not observed in the study area. However, the area of moderate vulnerability accounted for more than 70 % of the total area, which means that there remains relatively high groundwater organic pollution risk, and groundwater resource management measures should be taken based on these findings. Although the last ranked in the parameter sensitivity analysis, the organic matter plays an important role in groundwater organic pollution as it was demonstrated when comparing the performances of DRAOTIC versus DRASTIC method. A comparison of DRASTIC and DRAOTIC model results demonstrates that the DRAOTIC model has greater accuracy in this application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in manufacturing technology and new material processes have enabled novel device designs. As the growing field of robotic tactile sensing calls for advanced tactile sensors, waveguide‐based tactile sensors have shown promising mechanisms but system‐level integrated solutions are needed to demonstrate their feasibility for sensor applications. In this work, a novel ultra‐compact high‐resolution tactile sensor based on asymmetric Mach‐Zehnder interferometers (MZI) is proposed: PITS (Photonic Integrated Tactile Sensor). It is made from Parylene C waveguides using the Parylene photonic material platform. The sensor is composed of a 4 × 4 array of MZI sensing units and demonstrates multipoint contact sensing as well as shape detection with high sensitivity and low inter‐unit crosstalk. The sensing unit is based on multimode interference mechanism explored with supplementary mechanical and optical simulation models. It demonstrates a 0.08 N dynamic range with <0.01 N force resolution, 7.59 signal‐to‐noise ratio and an average hysteresis of 7.7% over 10 repeated indents. The sensor is fabricated in two layers: a Parylene photonic layer and an align‐bonded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micropillar layer on top, which actuates the sensing units. This architecture features a design and fabrication pipeline that allows customizable sensitivity and dynamic range as well as scalable array designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context • N-of-1 trials are multiple crossover trials with randomized and blinded methods, conducted with a single participant to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a therapy. They can be a helpful tool for enriching clinical research for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but the approach has gained little traction in TCM. Information is needed before supporters of the trials can pursue a change to that status. Objective • The study intended to obtain data needed to support TCM clinicians' adoption of N-of-1 trials. Methods • TCM clinicians were interviewed using a dedicated questionnaire between May 15, 2014, and July 31, 2014. Setting • The study took place at 4 teaching hospitals (Lanzhou City, China). Participants • Participants were TCM clinicians at the 4 hospitals. Outcome Measures • The survey included questions to obtain information on (1) the various methods that the TCM physicians used to obtain information about how to develop and conduct clinical trials, (2) their knowledge and experience with traditional clinical trials, (3) their awareness of the concept and methodology of N-of-1 trials, and (4) their needs and willingness to receive training about such trials. Descriptive statistics were used. Results • One-hundred-and-six clinicians, with a median age of 32 ± 9 y, participated in the survey. Most received information on research methods from a medical database (77%) or academic conferences (65%). Eighty-two percent of the clinicians had read papers about clinical trials, and 84% of the material read were medical articles in Mandarin. Of the participants, 57% had designed and carried out clinical trials during the 5 y before the survey, and among those participants, 26% had performed randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 28% had carried out retrospective studies, 16% had conducted observational studies, and 30% had completed case reports. For those studies, the results of 7% had been published in the Science Citation Index (SCI), 47% in the Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD), and 31% in provincial journals; 15% were unpublished. Only 37% had heard of an N-of-1 trial, and only 5% understood what the term means. Most intermediate clinicians thought it is necessary to train different groups of clinicians using N-of-1 trials that included clinicians and patients. Conclusions • The results highlight the possible interest of TCM clinicians in the methods of N-of-1 trials; meanwhile, the study's data stress the need for appropriate medical education and recommendations based on available evidence. Further efforts in the area should emphasize the benefits for patients and funders. The training is necessary in TCM clinical practice to improve the evidence quality of studies on TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]